The Red and Black

Issue date: 3/5/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: DANIEL SHIREY Junior first baseman Rich Poythress makes a play in the Diamond Dogs' 13-6 win against Wofford. Georgia tied a school record with its ninth straight win to open the season. [Click to enlarge]

After a two-day effort to clear Foley Field of six inches of snow, the No. 10 Georgia baseball team continued its record-setting start in a 13-6 rout of Wofford Wednesday.

With the victory, the Diamond Dogs (9-0) tied the school record for the best start to season, set by the 1911 team that finished with a 17-5 record. However, of Georgia's four opponents - Youngstown State, Presbyterian, Arizona and Wofford - only last weekend's three-game series in Tucson presented the Dogs with a legitimate challenger.

Soft schedule aside, the team is proud of its place in history.

"Anytime you break a record ,you've done good things and any team that has been to Omaha has set records along the way, so this is a good stepping stone," junior first baseman Rich Poythress said.

Despite playing nearly all of its position players, the prolific Georgia offense didn't miss a beat as it toyed with the Terriers' (3-4) pitching staff and reached double digits for the fifth game in a row and eighth game overall.

"It's good on a lot of levels because it keeps morale up and keeps guys pushing and accountable to do their jobs," Georgia head coach David Perno said.

The Dogs first three batters - Peter Verdin, Matt Cerione and Colby May - all reached base and scored in the first. Verdin scored on a wild pitch, and Cerione and May scored on a two-run, two-out single by catcher Joey Lewis. After a scoreless second, the Dogs added two runs in the third and fourth innings, all via home runs. Poythress hit his fourth home run of the season, a two-run opposite field shot, in the third. May and fellow freshman Zach Cone each added solo shots an inning later to make the score 7-0.

Georgia then cleaned out its dugout over the next few innings as only May and Lewis were the only starters in the ball game by the seventh.

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