The Red and Black

Issue date: 4/7/09 Section: Sports

Michael Fitzpatrick [Click to enlarge]

Yes, the Georgia baseball team lost two of three games at home to LSU.

And, yes, it committed several stupid errors (dropping fly balls and pop-ups) at inopportune times and, yes, Georgia batters struck out 35 times in three games.

But, no, there is no reason to worry, the Diamond Dogs will be fine. Despite starting a high number of freshmen (at least four) per game, head coach David Perno has a lot of upperclassmen in key positions. Junior center fielder Matt Cerione anchors the outfield and plays with an unbridled enthusiasm that his teammates feed off of.

Junior first baseman - and Gold Glove winner - Rich Poythress leads the infield, providing the necessary leadership to the underclassmen who surround him. It also doesn't hurt that he leads the SEC in batting average (.443), on-base percentage (.540) and RBIs (52), is second in slugging percentage (.861), runs scored (41), hits (51) and home runs (13).

And the Dogs catching tandem of senior Bryce Massanari and junior Joey Lewis handle a pitching staff with the lowest team ERA in the conference (3.69).

Facing adversity is essential to a team's long-term success.

Case in point, the College Dog Show - er, World Series - a year ago. Lest anyone forget, the winner of Georgia and Fresno State would have the most losses of any national champion. Fresno State was the first 4-seed ever to advance to Omaha period, never mind win. Fresno State was without its top pitcher due to injury and several of its players played through incredibly painful injuries - Steve Detwiler and his thumb - on its way to the title.

But that loss, that utter disappointment, left the Diamond Dogs hungry and wanting to finish what they started. Pitcher Trevor Holder, a 10th round draft pick of the Florida Marlins, returned for his senior season to try to get a ring, and when teamed with junior Alex McRee in the rotation, Georgia has a pitching staff to be reckoned with.

Omaha is more than two months away. Prior to last week, Georgia had not played a single ranked team and exploded to a school-best 22-3 start. A home and home series with then-No. 22 Clemson and then hosting then-No. 5 LSU is just what the doctor ordered.

The Dogs needed to face the caliber of competition they must go through en route to Omaha. They needed to get hit in the mouth to remember what their own blood tasted like. They just had not done that, and they looked like it. They consistently made dumb errors or swung for the fences with no one on base and they paid the price. The SEC is arguably the best conference in college baseball. It has three teams ranked in the top 5, Arkansas (No. 1), LSU (No. 4) and Georgia (No. 5), and of the eight weekly rankings so far, it has had the No. 1 team seven times. The Diamond Dogs will be fine, they have one of the deepest teams in recent memory and they have the leadership to get the job done.

Of course, it doesn't hurt when the best teams in the nation reside in their conference's backyard.

- Michael Fitzpatrick is a sportswriter for The Red & Black.

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