Sports Page Atlanta

Georgia came back down 3 in the 8th inning to pull ahead of Fresno State to win game one last night by the score of 7 to 6 and they can win it all with a win tonight.

Joey Lewis came through again in Omaha by getting a rbi single to score Matt Cerione with the go-ahead run.  Cerione who went 0-for-5 with 5 strikeouts in his last game, shook it off by twice getting game-tying hits.

Gordon Beckham was the other big offensive star by clubbing his 27th home run of the season which was also his 52nd of his career (a new Georgia record).

Trevor Holder for the most part pitched well (except for a few long balls).  Alex McRee struggled for the first time in a long time and Justin Earls allowed a hit to the only batter he faced.  Will Harvill did the job and closed the 8th and then Joshua Fields came through and retired the side in the 9th to save his 18th game of the season.

The Fresno State Bulldogs threw 5 pithers last night.  Justin Miller who I thought was going to pitch yesterday did not and will most likely pitch tonight (but then again I could be wrong).

Nick Montgomery will take the mound for Georgia and this would be a nice way for him to end his career with the Bulldogs.

After trailing for the majority of the game, the Dawgs came back and defeated Stanford 4-3. Senior Nick Montgomery struggled in the 3rd inning and allowed all 3 runs score, 2 courtesy of Jason Castro’s 2-run homer (this guy is a stud… offensively and defensively… Houston got a good player in the draft… it might be tought, but remember… Castro the Astro).

Anyway… Stephen Dodson came in to pitch and was lights out and so watch Alex McRee, both were big-time nasty at times.

Georgia fought back with one in the 4th and one in the 6th. Then in the 7th with 2 outs and no one on, All-American Gordon Beckham ignited a rally with a single to left, Rich Poythress walked and then Bryce Massanari appeared to hit a 3-run homer, but it was just foul… he was later hit-by-the-pitch and with the bases loaded, Matt Cerione singled to center and the tying and go ahead runs scored. Dawgs up 4-3.

In the 9th, Joshua Fields came into the game for his first save opportunity since May 13th. After getting the first batter out, he then hit the next batter, then walked the one after that. With the tying run just 180 feet away, he got pinch-hitter Colin Walsh to hit into the 6-4-3 double play to end the game.

Georgia will now face the Stanford/Miami winner on Friday. If the Bulldogs win that one they will advance to the College World Series Championship series. If they lose they will play that same team again on Saturday.

For the first time ever the SEC Player of the Year, SEC Pitcher of the Year, SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year and SEC Coach of the Year were all given to student-athletes from the same school.

The University of Georgia were the lucky ones to pick up that hardware. Gordon Beckham won the SEC Player of the Year as well as the SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year Award. Joshua Fields won the SEC Pitcher of the Year and Head Coach David Perno won his 2nd ever SEC Coach of the Year Award after winning it in 2004 as well.

Beckham, Fields and catcher Bryce Massanari all won first team honors. 2nd team honors went pitchers Trevor Holder and Stephen Dodson.

First baseman Rich Poythress was first team All-Defense while no Bulldog made the freshman team.

Here is a complete list of all the SEC winners…

No Georgia Tech player made first team All-ACC, but they had a lot of Yellow Jackets representing the second team.

Third Baseman Brad Feltes, Pitcher David Duncan, Outfielder Charlie Blackmon and shortstop Derek Dietrich were all winners in that category.

Florida State’s Buster Posey was named ACC Player of the Year. He is from Leesburg, Georgia. I think he wished he went to either Georgia or Georgia Tech (that way I would have written more about him, oh well, congrats).

Here is a complete list of all the ACC winners…

The Georgia Bulldogs defeated the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 3-2 last night in front of 22,599 at Turner Field. To no surprise the man that sealed the deal for the Dawgs was closer Joshua Fields. The senior chalked up another record with the big save. Here are the records he owns and one more he can still get…

Most Saves in a season by a Georgia Bulldog:

• Joshua Fields - 16 in 2008 (got it last night)
• Joshua Fields - 15 in 2006
• Alex Barylak - 15 in 1993

Most Saves in a Career by a Georgia Bulldog:

• Joshua Fields - 39
• Cris Carpenter - 33
• Alex Barylak - 30

Most Saves in a Career by a SEC player:

• Joshua Fields - 39
• Cris Carpenter - 33
• Rick Greene (LSU) - 29
• Van Johnson (Mississippi State) - 29
• Finley Woodward (Auburn) - 29

Most Saves in a season by SEC player:

• Blake Taylor (South Carolina) - 21 in 2002
• Chad Blackwell (South Carolina) - 20 in 2004
• Lee Gronkiewicz (South Carolina) - 19 in 2001
• Finley Woodward (Auburn) - 19 in 1995
• Steven Register (Auburn) - 16 in 2003
• Joshua Fields - 16 in 2008

John Sickels over at Minor League Ball came up with a list of college hitters and pitchers to look out for in June’s amateur draft. To no one surprise Georgia’s Gordon Beckham and Joshua Fields made the list.

Here are the complete lists…

• Top College Hitters for the 2008 Draft
• Top College Pitchers for the 2008 Draft

Both the Georgia Bulldogs and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets won their weekend series after posting victories on Sunday. Georgia continues their winning ways as they defeated the Ole Miss Rebels 11-4. Four Bulldogs hit home runs including Gordon Beckham who hit his NCAA leading 22nd in the game. He is now one away from tying the team season record and four away from tying the team career record. In the game, closer Joshua Fields gave up his first earned run of the season.

Georgia Tech on the other hand defeated #15 ranked Coastal Carolina 11-4 as the Yellow Jackets won their 2nd straight weekend series. First Baseman Tony Flagman hit his ACC leading 15th home run and Derek Dietrich hit his 14th.

These two local powers will square off against each other on Wednesday night in Athens at 7:00 pm.

Georgia Bulldog closer Joshua Fields is having an outstanding season. He is 1-1 this season with 11 saves. The right-hander has also not allowed a earned run all season and has 36 strikeouts in 18 2/3 innings pitched.

His 11th save came last night as the Bulldogs defeated the LSU Tigers 6-3 in Baton Rouge. The senior pitched 1 1/3 innings and gave up 2 walks and another base runner via a strikeout/wild pitch. But with the bases loaded, Fields fired a strike past DJ LeMahieu to win the game. The win improved Georgia to 26-12 with a SEC best 13-3 in the conference.

His 11 saves added to his total coming into the season adds up to 34 which breaks a SEC and school record held by former two-sport star and former major leaguer Cris Carpenter. Carpenter played for the Dawgs from 1985 to 1987 and was part of Georgia’s first College World Series team in his final season.

Georgia Bulldogs closer Joshua Fields notched another save as the Dawgs edged the Kentucky Wildcats 3-2 to improve to 10-3 in SEC play which leads the conference. The senior now has 32 career saves which ranks his 2nd in Bulldog history. Here is the top 3…

1. Cris Carpenter - 33
2. Joshua Fields - 32
3. Alex Barylak - 30

Fields is 3rd all-time in games pitched with 95 (Barylak leads with 104)

Georgia Bulldogs senior pitcher Joshua Fields won the SEC Pitcher of the Week. The closer went 1-0 and 2 saves in games against #17 Clemson and #9 South Carolina this week. On the season, the right-hander is 1-1 with a 0.00 ERA. He also recorded 32 strikeouts with just 6 walks in 15 1/3 innings.

In his career, Fields has 31 saves which is 2 shy of a Georgia record.

On Wednesday, Georgia Bulldog pitcher/designated hitter Joshua Fields notched his 2nd save this season in a game vs #3 Florida State. On the mound this season, the senior and former 2nd round draft pick by the Braves has allowed just 1 hit in 5 1/3 innings, walking 2 and strikeout out 13.

His 13 in 5 1/3 innings would average to 21.9 strikeouts per 9 innings. He should be used to amazing numbers like that…

2008 - Sr in college: 13 K in 5 1/3 ip 21.9 per 9

2007 - Jr in college: 45 K in 39 1/3 ip 10.3 per 9

2006 - Soph in college: 56 K in 50 ip 10.1 per 9

2005 - Fr in college: 49 K in 27 ip 16.3 per 9

2004 - Sr in high school: 80 K in 36 ip 20.0 per 9

2003 - Jr in high school: 114 K in 58 1/3 ip 17.6 per 9

2002 - Soph in high school: 89 K in 54 2/3 ip 14.7 per 9

I know pitching in the majors is completely different, but Randy Johnson holds the career record for strikeouts per 9 innings. The Big Unit has a career mark of 10.8 strikeouts per 9 innings.