Sports Page Atlanta

Ryan Peisel had 3 hits yesterday including a home run to propel Georgia into the NCAA Championship Series where they will face either North Carolina or Fresno State.

The senior 3rd baseman now has 102 hits this season.  He is the 5th Bulldog to ever reach the century mark.  Earlier this season teammate Gordon Beckham became the 4th.  Beckham has 106 hits this season.  Both players can still challenge for the most ever by a Bulldog…

Here are the 5 Georgia Bulldogs to reach 100 hits in one season…

Joey Side: 2006 - 111 hits

Chaz Lytle: 2002 - 108 hits

Gordon Beckham: 2008 - 106 hits and counting

Ryan Peisel: 2008 - 102 hits and counting

Jeff Keppinger: 2001 - 102 hits 

Two more teammates, Rich Poythress and Matt Olson have a chance as well.  Poythress has 95 hits this, while Olson has 91.

As mentioned below, the Georgia Bulldogs won the Athens Regional by defeating Georgia Tech in the final game by the score of 18-6.  After losing the first game in the regional to Lipscomb, the Dawgs won 4 straight and now will face NC State at home starting on Friday.  Georgia is now 15-0 in elimination games at Foley Field in NCAA Tournament action.

It was the offense that exploded that helped Georgia succeed.  Collectively the Dawgs batted .398 and averaged over 11 runs during the 5 games.  Of the 82 total hits they got, 8 were hit for home runs.  

But check out how these averages improved from the beginning of the region to the end.  Remember it is hard to increase averages by a lot after playing 57 games, so some of these are quite impressive…

                                           Started at                Finished                  Increased

Matt Olson                         .294                          .333                           .039

Matt Cerione                     .273                          .295                            .022

Bryce Massanari               .330                          .346                            .016

Role players such as Miles Starr and David Thoms contributed as well…

Miles Starr entering the region: 2-fo-18 in the region went 2-for-7

David Thoms entering the region: 6-for-32 in the region went 3-for-12

After the series concluded on Monday, the members of media selected their all-region team.  Georgia Bulldog Matt Olson was the region’s most outstanding player.  The senior right fielder hit an incredible .692 (18-for-26) in the series with 6 rbi and 10 runs scored.

In all 6 Georgia Bulldogs and 2 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets made the team.  Here is the complete list from the region.

Catcher: Jason Haniger - Georgia Tech

First Base: Rich Poythress - Georgia

Second Base: Justin McClanahan - Louisville

Third Base: Ryan Peisel - Georgia

Shortstop: Gordon Beckham - Georgia

Outfield: Matt Olson - Georgia

Outfield: Charlie Blackmon - Georgia Tech

Outfield: Blake Bratcher - Lipscomb

Designated Hitter: Bryce Masssanari - Georgia

Pitcher: Nick Montgomery - Georgia

Pitcher: Rex Brothers - Lipscomb

Most Outstanding Player:  Matt Olson - Georgia