Scott Stricklin wasn’t sure what to expect when Cam Shepherd plopped down on the couch inside his office at Foley Field.

The Tampa Bay Rays had just selected the Bulldog shortstop in the 20th-round of the MLB Draft, and Stricklin was afraid that might be just enough to lure Shepherd to forgo his senior year.

“That was my question: who's going to be our shortstop this year,” said Stricklin, recalling the meeting last June. “Fortunately, my answer came really quick when he sat right there on that couch last year and said, ‘Coach, I want to come back.’”

According to Shepherd, the timing just wasn’t right. After two straight years of coming up short in the Athens Regional, he felt he had one more goal to achieve.

“It’s always been a dream of mine to go play in Omaha, take a team to Omaha. That was pretty much the basis of it. I think we’ve got a chance to do that this year—a really good chance,” Shepherd said. “I just think it was the right decision for me. I talked it over with my parents; everybody was cool with it. That’s the goal, so hopefully it works out.”

It’s no wonder Stricklin is glad to have him back.

Shepherd has started every game for the Bulldogs at shortstop since arriving on campus, a streak that stands at 180 consecutive games with a career batting average of .261, with 41 doubles, 18 home runs, and 98 RBI.

But it’s the work he does with his glove that enables the former Peachtree Ridge star to stand out above his peers.

Defensively, you’ll have to look hard to find anyone better than Shepherd, who earned an ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove as the nation’s top defensive shortstop, after making just three errors in 235 chances, including zero in either of Georgia’s 30 SEC games.

“Growing up, I never had a defensive coach to work with. Then coming here, I’ve had four, so it’s been cool to work with a bunch of different guys who have helped me in different ways,” Shepherd said. “To get an award for my defense, which I take pride in, is not always the most glamorous thing behind hitting. But to get an award like that was cool. I wasn’t expecting that.”

Nobody appreciates Shepherd’s efforts more than Georgia’s pitchers.

“Having him back in the middle of the infield just really helps the comfort that our pitchers feel when they turn around and look over their right shoulder,” Stricklin said. “He’s not a rah-rah guy; he just goes out and plays hard, plays with emotion. It’s just huge to have him back.”

Just ask Emerson Hancock.

Last year, the Bulldogs set a school record for defense, with a team fielding percentage of .980, with Shepherd quite literally in the middle.

“It’s awesome to have that confidence in someone. It comes not only from what he does in the game, but what he does between practices,” Hancock said. “He’s so much fun to watch, he makes it look so easy. It’s almost gotten to the point where, when someone hits it to him, you don’t even look. You know he’s going to make the play. It comes that easy for him.”

Offensively, Shepherd admits there’s some improvement still needed.

After batting .307 as a freshman, Shepherd saw his batting average drop to .244 as a sophomore and .231 last spring. Although his hitting production (runs scored, homers, and RBI) has always been respectable, getting his batting average up to a more respectable level is also one of his goals.

If Georgia’s last 15 games are any indication, perhaps better days are indeed ahead.

Shepherd batted .284 over Georgia's last 16 games (18 for 57) and, according to Stricklin, followed that up with an excellent fall.

The trick now, Shepherd says, is to keep building.

“You’ve just got to build off the momentum. There were times last year when I had some bad luck here and there. I was hitting the ball hard; it just wasn’t falling. But toward the end of last year, it started doing that; it was nice to see,” he said. “You can’t always get caught up in results, but when the ball starts falling, you start feeling a little better about it. I just hope to continue to ride that wave and keep it coming this year.”

Stricklin certainly hopes that’s the case.

“You started to see what he's capable of late in the season. He got hot, and then he put up some numbers,” he said. “I think he just wants to have a complete year.”