This weekend’s series victory over No. 14 Oklahoma was a huge deal for No. 10 Georgia.
However, fingers are now crossed over the status of first baseman Ryland Zaborowski, who suffered what Wes Johnson confirmed was an elbow injury in the second inning of Saturday’s 6-3 win.
The injury occurred when Zaborowski made a relay throw from right field on a run-scoring double by Scott Mulder.
Zaborowski – hitting .372 with 16 home runs and 58 RBI – immediately grabbed his elbow before being escorted off the field by trainer Zach Adams and Johnson, who did not have a diagnosis after the game.
“We'll check on Zabo. Right now, I don't know, I haven't talked to Zach Adams,” Johnson said. “I think Doc's gonna look at him and we'll go from there.”
Zaborowski remained in the dugout and was seen after the game wearing a black compression sleeve over his right arm.
“I went in and talked to him, and he was in a good place mentally,” Johnson said. “Again, we’re gonna get him checked out and go from there.”
Replacement Brennan Hudson did a good Zaborowski impression with his bat.
The transfer from Georgia State blasted a three-run homer in the seventh over the batter’s eye, propelling the Bulldogs to a 4-2 lead.
“Of course, it's bittersweet,” Hudson said. “You hate to see a guy go down like that. But I feel like I played up to what Zabo can do. I was very proud of myself to kind of show what I can do for him.”
Shortstop Kolby Branch said the same is true for the rest of the team.
“My heart dropped, he's such a great dude,” Branch said. “You don't want to see something like that, like a freak accident. I think he'll be all right, hopefully. I don't know what the final word is, but it's tough to see him go down.”