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.

Georgia will face Stanford tonight at 7:00 pm et in the winners bracket of the College World Series. These two teams have faced each other before in Omaha with the Cardinal being on the good side 3 games to 2, but the Dawgs won twice when it counted in 1990 when they took down ace Mike Mussina 2 times en route to the championship and then defeated Oklahoma State to win it all.

Tonight it will be Nick Montgomery on the mound. The senior has been pitching great since taking over in the starters role.

In 4 games as a starter this season: 3-1 with a 2.63 era

In 20 relief appearances: 1-1 with a 5.08 era

Stanford’s big hitter is catcher Jason Castro. He was the 10th pick overall in this month’s draft. He is a big catcher at 6′3″ and is hitting .376 on the season with 100 hits. Thirteen of those 100 hits have been home runs.

Their other big bat is leadoff hitter Cord Phelps. The second baseman is hitting .350 this season with 86 hits. Their power comes from centerfielder Sean Ratliff who has 21 dingers on the season. Lookout for Toby Gerhart and Brent Milleville, too.

Pitching could be either Austin Yount (nephew of mlb hall of famer Robin Yount) or Jeffrey Inman (I don’t know what his uncle or aunt do for a living). Both are right-handers. Yount has the better ERA, but neither are big-time strikeout guys.

Stanford doesn’t run a whole lot. Only 63 attempts (47 successful) in 64 games.

They have very good defense. Only 65 errors and one guy with errors in double-digits.

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

Georgia and Georgia Tech will take battle once again on the ball field tonight at 7:00 PM EST. This time the game will be played at Turner Field. The Bulldogs are having a great season and last Sunday they clinched their 6th SEC title. The one bad thing for the Dawgs is that in-state rival Georgia Tech has already destroyed them twice this season. The first Yellow Jacket win was 9-4 at Tech’s Russ Chandler Stadium on April 9th then later they won again, this time in Athens at Foley Field by the score of 11-1 last Wednesday.

The 3rd matchup at Turner Field is dubbed ‘Spring Baseball Classic For Kids’ and proceeds from the game benefit Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and its Brain and Spinal Cord Tumor Program. They have been playing this game every year since 2003. The Dawgs have won 4 of the 5 previous meetings at Turner. In 2004, a total of 28,836 people attended which was the 2nd largest crowd in NCAA baseball history at the time.

Senior Nick Montgomery will make the start for Georgia while Georgia Tech counters with freshman Deck McGuire. McGuire is 8-0 this season including 2 wins against the Bulldogs. This will be Montgomery’s first career start.