Georgia Bulldogs blast five home runs to earn 30th win

ATHENS, Ga. – The seventh-ranked Georgia Bulldogs powered their way to their 30th win of the season Tuesday night, blasting five home runs in a 16-2 run-rule victory over Presbyterian at Foley Field. The game, shortened to seven innings, was played in front of a crowd of 2,848.

Georgia (30-5) extended its NCAA-leading home run total to 92 with a relentless offensive showing, highlighted by a nine-run fifth inning that included back-to-back home runs from Kolby Branch and Devin Obee, followed by a grand slam from Branch—his second homer of the inning.

“I thought we did a good job from the jump,” said head coach Wes Johnson. “I challenged our guys to not chase, to have a two-strike approach. They had a little sneaky fastball at the top of the zone that got us a couple of times, but other than that I thought we did a really good job of getting back to our approach, getting back to not chasing and slowing the game down. I mean, that’s all Kolby [Branch] did today. He just played the game slow. Ryan Black’s playing the game really slow right now, and when you see that, those are good signs.”

Junior Ryan Black opened the scoring with a leadoff home run—his second of the season and Georgia’s fourth leadoff homer of the year. Graduate Ryland Zaborowski added to the fireworks with a solo shot of his own, his 15th of the season, tying him with teammate Robbie Burnett for second in the nation.

The Bulldogs blew the game open in the fifth inning. Branch and Obee went back-to-back to ignite the nine-run frame, and Branch capped it with a grand slam in his second at-bat of the inning, tying a school record with two home runs in a single inning. It was the seventh career grand slam for the junior shortstop.

“It’s always fun to hit two home runs on a midweek,” Branch said. “Glad we got some things going tonight.”

He added, “It’s a lot of fun playing at Foley, and we get a lot of confidence when we’re playing at home. It’s a good feeling to be back.”

Georgia used seven pitchers in the win, with Matthew Hoskins (1-1) earning the victory.

The Bulldogs now turn their attention to a high-stakes SEC showdown as they welcome top-ranked Arkansas (30-3, 11-1 SEC) to Foley Field for a three-game series beginning Friday at 6 p.m. The series will be streamed on SECN+.