Sports

Levi Hyams is the only one with something to celebrate

Kirk Carter here from beautiful Foley Field. It’s another gorgeous Friday evening in Athens, Georgia. This game is getting a late start thanks to ESPN, who obviously thinks everything should revolve around their schedule.

Tonight will be the first of a three-game series with Ole Miss. The Rebels come in to this series ranked #15 in the country by Baseball America. The Rebs are one of 7 SEC teams enjoying a spot in the top 25 this week.

Georgia comes into this one after losing two straight to #16 Clemson in the middle of the week. Georgia is currently in the middle of a nightmare stretch that features a three game road trip to #5 LSU, two midweek games with #16 Clemson, a three game home set with #15 Ole Miss, a Wednesday night matchup with #2 Georgia Tech, and a three game road series with #10 Arkansas before getting a much needed break against Winthrop.

Oh, after that their set to play #8 Florida, #20 Vanderbilt, and #11 South Carolina in consecutive weekends.

Before giving up on this Georgia squad, consider that Ole Miss comes into Athens riding a three game losing streak. SEC East co-cellar dwellers took two of three from Colonel Reb and the gang in Oxford. Then Arkansas-Little Rock snuck out an upset this past Wednesday.

If there was a time to draw Ole Miss its now.

Too bad he goes to a hick school like Ole Miss

Tonight won’t be easy of course. Ole Miss throws out its ace in lefthander Drew Pomeranz. The article below this one details just how nasty he is. I’m excited to see him up close and personal in tonight’s game.

Again, I’ll be bringing you all the coverage you could possibly want tonight. I’ll also try and be here Saturday and Sunday, because I know how much all of you love this live blog.

I want to give a special shout-out to my girlfriend who is fortunate enough to be out of the country. Some people go to great lengths to avoid seeing this atrocious baseball team.

Here are tonight’s starting lineups:

Ole Miss 21-9 (5-4 SEC)
Tim Ferguson – cf – r
Matt Tracy – lf – l
Matt Smith – rf – r
Matt Snyder – l – dh
Zach Miller – 3b – r
Miles Hambin – 1b – l
Alex Yarbrough – 2b – s
Taylor Hightower – c – s
Kevin Mort – ss – r

On the mound: Drew Pomeranz
see above

Rebel to watch: Matt Snyder
Missed some time due to shoulder surgery, but he’s back now. Leads Ole Miss in slugging percentage, on base percentage, and OPS.

Georgia 10 – 19 (2-7 SEC)
Johnathan Taylor – lf – l
Peter Verdin – rf – r
Levi Hyams – 2b – l
Zach Cone – cf – r
Kyle Farmer – ss – r
Brett DeLoach – dh – r
Colby May – 3b – r
Kevin Ruiz – 1b – r
Carson Schilling – c – r

On the mound: Justin Grimm
Justin has struggled this year, but he’s the most reliable arm that Georgia has. He’s 2-3 with a 4.46 ERA.

Bulldog to watch: Levi Hyams
Levi has played his way into the third spot in the order. No matter which way you cut it, he’s on fire. The last two weekends, Levi has hit .407 with 6 doubles, 1 home run and 11 RBI. Now if everyone else could catch up.

Different look for Georgia tonight. Carson Schilling makes his second straight start behind the plate. Robert Shipman will be getting some much needed rest tonight so Brett DeLoach takes over at designated hitter. Meanwhile, Kevin Ruiz’ play in place of Colby May against Clemson this week has earned him some weekend PT in place of the scuffling Chase Davidson.

How can you not love a beautiful night like this? Come on down to Foley Field if you can. If you can’t, park it in front of your computers and get ready.

It’s all the excitement of baseball with the added burden of reading… the blogging begins next: (more…)

It's a trap! Actually, its Ole Miss' newest mascot.

It’s a trap! Georgia continues is gauntlet of ranked competition with a three game series against Ole Miss here at Foley Field.

Tonight Ole Miss will be throwing left-hander Drew Pomeranz. Pomeranz will be a top 10 pick in this summer’s MLB draft and is quite possibly the best pitcher the SEC has seen since David Price of Vanderbilt a few years back. The lefty is 5-0 in 7 starts on the year. He leads the SEC in strikeouts (65), ERA (1.65), and opponent’s batting average (.178).

In fact, he’s pitched so well that Baseball America recently named him the best pitcher of the first-half of the season. He’ll be looking to snap Ole Miss’ three game losing streak. The Rebels dropped the last two of their weekend series with Tennessee and were upset on Wednesday night in Oxford by Arkansas-Little Rock.

Georgia might be catching the Rebels at the right time. The Bulldogs are looking to win their first SEC series of the year. They’re also looking to get their first conference win at home after suffering a sweep at the hands of Auburn three weeks ago.

Georgia was handled easily by Clemson earlier this week, dropping both mid-week games by huge margins. Once again their success will hinge on their pitching… the Bulldogs have a league worst team ERA of 9.85. Justin Grimm, Michael Pallazzone, and Jeff Walters need to get it together if Georgia hopes to salvage a birth in the SEC tournament.

No need to argue David, the ump agrees that your team stinks.

Ole Miss is not a slug-it-out kind of team. The Rebels only have 27 team homers (Georgia has 29), and they average 7.7 runs a game a little better than Georgia’s 6.3. However, Ole Miss is only giving up 4 runs a contest. If there’s a silver lining, its that the Reb’s conference ERA is 5.85 compared to 3.89 against opponents outside of the SEC.

Georgia will have a chance this weekend if they can get into that Ole Miss bullpen. The Rebels lost closer Jake Morgan to graduation and have sought to fill the void with a series of shaky relievers, Brett Huber, Eric Callender, David Goforth, and Trent Rothin aren’t the type of pitchers that Georgia should be too fearful of.

The Dawgs will also have to locate their pitches. Georgia is last in the SEC with 47 wild pitches, 31 hit batters, and 146 walks. 10 of those wild pitches belong to sophomore Cecil Tanner. The Diesel has a 98 mph heater, if he can dial it in, Georgia can rest easy at the back end of ball games.

My prediction: Georgia takes two out of three to win their first SEC series.

Fletcher Page from…just about everywhere these days joins me to preview the G-Day game this Saturday and talks about who has been standing out in spring practice for the Dawgs.

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Podcast: Download

This is why no one is scared of the Mets.

I know that Opening Day has passed, but I’m not going to let that stop WUOG Sports from previewing the year to come in Major League Baseball. Today I’ve covered the three divisions of the National League. Since I think the DH is a crime against humanity, James will hopefully be providing a look at the inferior American League.

Without further ado… here’s what to expect from the NL East.

PREDICTED FINISH
1. Philadelphia Phillies
The Braves fan in me wants to doubt the two-time defending NL Champs, but Philly made themselves remarkably better in the off-season by picking up Placido Polanco at 3rd and some guy named Roy Halladay.

2. Atlanta Braves (WILDCARD WINNERS!)
It was only one swing, but Jason Heyward has me convinced that he’s going to be a legit presence in Atlanta’s line-up. The big question will be the health of Troy Glaus and Chipper Jones, if they can stay on the field, Atlanta has enough offense to compliment the league’s deepest rotation and the Braves could win the division. (more…)

PREDICTED FINISH
1. St. Louis Cardinals
When you have the best player in baseball, two great starting pitchers, and a line-up with enough talent to protect said best player, you’re going to win a lot of ball games. St. Louis has all of those things.

2. Milwaukee Brewers
This team will surprise a lot of people this year. Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder can mash it. Randy Wolf was the best pitching acquisition no one talked about. Alcides Escobar is a legit Rookie of the Year candidate. Watch out for the Brew Crew folks. (more…)

PREDICTED FINISH

No caption needed.

1. San Francisco Giants
The Giants struggled mightily to score runs in ‘09. While Aubrey Huff and Mark DeRosa won’t impose fear in opposing pitchers, they’ll help Pablo Sandoval bring in enough runs to support the league’s best pitching staff.

2. Colorado Rockies
Colorado is a sexy pick to make a World Series run, but I’ve got questions about the rotation outside of Jimenez and de la Rosa and a bullpen that is lacking depth. (more…)

I went to my first game at Foley Field this season having heard what to expect: The starting pitching was shaky, the lineup had several key injuries and the bullpen was getting overworked from large deficits and short starts. Within a matter of minutes from the first pitch, these factors all became glaringly obvious. Starter Eric Swegman failed to record an out and gave up three earned runs. He walked two men on eight pitches total and everything he threw over the plate was hit. Hard. Steve Esmonde was able to get out of the first inning without allowing any more damage, but he too failed to record an out in the second inning, allowing five more to come home. Justin Earls, Georgia’s horse out of the bullpen this season, cleaned up the mess, allowed one unearned run, and survived the next four innings without further damage. But the real damage was already done. (more…)

Welcome to Foley Field! Ok, so I’m actually not there yet. I’m currently in my Pop Culture class (hopefully Dr. Stahl isn’t a big baseball fan) letting you know that I’ll be running a tad late for the scheduled 5pm first pitch against Clemson, as this class doesn’t get out until 4:45 (UPDATE: not true, scroll down). Hopefully not too much will occur in the time I miss, but knowing our starting pitchers (or at least Kirk knowing and telling me on our podcast this weekend) I may be in trouble. Luckily, the fantastic Georgia SID Chris Lakos has emailed out some pre-game notes, so feast on those while you get ready for today’s contest.

Watch Out For That Cone: Sophomore CF Zach Cone, who owns a 17-game hitting streak, is showing why he is a top pro prospect for 2011 with stellar defense (48 putouts, 5 assists, 0 errors) to go with a team-best .385 average, 27 RBI, four triples and six home runs. During his streak, he is batting .377 (26-for-69 with 21 RBI). The Bulldog Hitting Streak Record belongs to Josh Hudson at 28 games in 1999. Since then, the next best belongs to Mark Thornhill who had a 26-gamer in 2001. Against #4 LSU, Cone hit .417 (5-for-12) with two home runs.

Hyams Solidifying Lineup and Defense: Sophomore INF Levi Hyams (.364-1-13) is healthy and making an impact. He posted the best offensive numbers in the Miss. State series at .467 (7-for-15) with four doubles and four RBI. Then against #4 LSU this past weekend, he batted .333 (4-for-12) with two doubles, a home run and 7 RBI. In SEC action, he is batting a team-best .385-1-12. He missed the first 12 games of the year due in part to a back injury. When he returned, the first five games were for defense as he either took pitches or bunted.

Strong First Half For Verdin: Before the 2010 campaign began, head coach David Perno tabbed sophomore RF Peter Verdin (.316-6-22) as the Bulldog most likely to have a breakout season. So far, Verdin has done just that, tying for the team lead with 6 home runs (5 solo), is 9-for-9 stolen bases and second in RBI with 22.

Perno Going For #300: At 299-225-1, head coach David Perno will be going for his 300th career win at Georgia. Now in his ninth season, Perno has taken the Bulldogs to four College World Series including the 2008 CWS Finals. He is looking to become just one of three Bulldog baseball coaches to register 300 wins; Jim Whatley (336-327-3 from 1950, ‘52-75) and Steve Webber (500-403-1 from 1981-1996).

Last season, Georgia was ranked #1 when it faced #17 Clemson. The Bulldogs swept the two-game series, winning 6-5 in Athens and then 4-2 the next night in Clemson. In 2008, Georgia registered an 11-3 win in Athens followed by a 6-4 win at Clemson. The Tigers won both meetings in 2007 (4-2 in Athens, 11-10 in Clemson). (Hopefully that trend will not continue…)

I’ll be back with lineups and updates as soon as I make it down to the game.

Well, turns out I have a couple of issues. First, the game doesn’t start until 7, so I’m rather early. Second, there isn’t a press pass for me at the media gate. So I suppose it’s lucky I’m here so early to work on getting into the media room. Anyway, if you don’t see updates here during the game, you now know why. Speak soon. Hopefully.

I finally made it into the Foley Field press box after a detour to East Campus to pick up a sandwich. Nice to be back here after about a year away from this place. Right now Clemson is taking BP and we have about an hour until first pitch. I’m going to get some water and cool off. Too much walking.

Dawgs:
Johnathan Taylor LF
Peter Verdin RF
Levi Hyams 2B
Zach Cone CF
Robert Shipman 1B
Kyle Farmer SS
Chase Davidson DH
Kevin Ruiz 3B
Christian Glisson C

Eric Swegman RHP 8.44 ERA

Clemson Tigers:
Chris Epps CF (Addison Jordan)
Mike Freeman 2B
Jeff Schaus LF
Kyle Parker DH
Wilson Boyd RF
Brad Miller SS
John Hinson 3B
Will Lamb 1B
John Nester C (PH Spencer Kieboom)

Dominic Leone RHP 3.55 ERA

(more…)

Kirk Carter joins me to discuss the status of Georgia baseball and pretty much destroys any chance that I attend a game at Foley Field this season.

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UGA walk-on and huge Michigan State fan helps preview the Final Four and “The Biggest Cats Fan of All Time” joins in to discuss vacating titles, Duke, West Virginia and his cannon right arm.

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