Sports

UGA 1B Rich Poythress celebrates an unforgettable night with 9-year-old bat-boy brother, Jared.

As Michael Terry alluded to in his live blog hours ago, Junior 1B Rich Poythress made some history Tuesday night in front of a crowd of 2,074 at Foley Field. Poythress, hit not just 1, or 2 but THREE home runs in #1 Georgia’s 11-7 victory over Kennesaw State (21-15).

With the three home runs, Poythress became just  the sixth player in school history to hit three HR in a game, the first since current Houston Astro Jeff Keppinger in the 2001 NCAA Regionals against Coastal Carolina. The best/most ironic part of it all? His nine year-old brother, Jared, was the team’s bat-boy for the night.

Poythress on the season is now hitting .418 with 20 HR and 66 RBI in just 40 games (yes, he is averaging a home run EVERY OTHER GAME). To put those numbers into perspective, Gordon Beckham last year hit .411 with 28 HR (single season school record) and 77 RBI (also the single-season school record) in 71 games.

So, in short, Poythress has played THIRTY ONE FEWER GAMES than Beckham and has hit just 8 fewer HR and 11 fewer RBIs. Incredible.

With the win, UGA improves to a phenominal 32-8 record and will travel to Anniston, Ala. to take on Jacksonville State (22-14) tonight, before heading to Oxford, Mississippi to take on #11 Ole Miss (29-11) on Friday for a three-game SEC weekend series.