On Tuesday, the Georgia baseball team scored eight runs, half of which were not driven in with a hit. The Bulldogs scored on a double play, on a balk, on a walk and on a sacrifice fly. East Tennessee State came into the game with a very good ERA of 3.38. The Buccaneers held the Dawgs to one hit in 11 at bats with runners in scoring position and to five hits overall. That day, Georgia did not hit that well, but for majority of the 2025 season, that has not been the case.

In 2024, Georgia hit .303 (its highest mark since 2008) and a school-record 151 home runs. The old record was 109, set in 2009. The Bulldogs lost many of the great hitters from last season, including Golden Spikes’ winner Charlie Condon, Corey Collins, Paul Toetz, and Fernando Gonzalez.

The Dawgs did return several hitting stars, such as Tre’ Phelps, Slate Alford, Kolby Branch, and Wes Johnson, and the staff did an excellent job replenishing the lineup.

It is hard to compare this team to last season’s team on a whole since it has not begun the grueling conference portion of the schedule. The SEC is always tough, but this season it may be one of the toughest. So instead, this is a list of stats prior to the starting the conference grind under the current head coach.

As a team, Georgia is currently second in the nation in home runs with 46. Eleven players have hit at least one home run this season.

While players like Collins and Phelps came on strong in SEC play, it was Condon who did it all season long. A few players on this season's squad have started off strong. Ryland Zaborowski and Robbie Burnett are just two of the greats in early action.

Zabo is tied for second in the nation in home runs with ten. The massive 6'5", 250-pound giant hit ten last season for Miami (Ohio) and hit 20 the season before. This season, he also leads the nation in slugging percentage and is second in runs batted in.

Burnett, on the other hand, has done a great job mixing power and speed. He is 5'10" and 191 pounds. In his three seasons prior to coming to Georgia, he had 36 home runs and 32 stolen bases at UNC Asheville. This season, he is second on the team with nine home runs and is tied for the SEC lead with ten stolen bases. He has also walked 20 times and been hit by a pitch 14 times.

Here is a look at these two Bulldogs compared to what Condon did prior to SEC play beginning a season ago.

Condon ended the 2024 campaign by becoming the third player to lead the nation in home runs (37) and batting average (.433). He also led the nation in slugging percentage. Will any of the two mentioned above come close to those numbers? We will see.

Georgia's first SEC test starts this Friday with a three-game set with Kentucky. The Wildcats are 13-2 this season and have a team ERA of 1.89 which ranks second in the nation. Last season, Georgia opened up conference play with these same Wildcats up in Lexington. Kentucky humbled Georgia by sweeping them and holding the Dawgs to three runs or less twice.

Cover photo of Zaborowski - courtesy of Conor Dillon/UGAAA