The celebration over, Henry Hunter took a moment inside Georgia’s dugout, quietly reflecting on what had just taken place.

It was certainly a moment he will never forget after his solo home run in the bottom of the 12th against lefty Cole Gilber lifted No. 7 Georgia to a 7-6 win Sunday over Arkansas, taking the series from the top-ranked Razorbacks.

“Man, we've just been working. We've just been working as a team. We really wanted this, especially for Coach (Wes) Johnson, knowing that he's been there, and just wanted to get back on track. We know what we're capable of, and we've been working hard as a group to just get it right,” Hunter said. “We want to be as good as we possibly can. We know the expectation here, and we know the standard that we've set. We just want to meet it every single time we go out, and that one felt good, for sure.”

Hunter’s recent struggles have been well-documented. The senior came in hitting .231, and against the lefty Gilbert, the expectations did not appear promising.

But with two out in the inning and a 3-1 pitch, Hunter was able to extend his arms and lift the ball high toward center. Former Bulldog Justin Thomas appeared to have the ball timed, but as he leaped, the ball cleared his glove, hitting the back of the batter’s eye and sending the Bulldog pouring onto the field.

“I thought I got it right off the bat,” Hunter said of the hit, which was Georgia’s fifth walk-off this year, third by a home run. “I was just kind of working to a good count; I took some good pitches and just got a good pitch to hit.”

The win boosts the Bulldogs’ record to 32-6, 10-5 in the SEC, while Arkansas falls to 32-5 and 12-3. Georgia has its best record in school history after 38 games.

“Henry, man, special player … special player,” said Johnson, momentarily caught in a loss for words.

Hunter wasn’t the only hero this day for Georgia.

After Arkansas came back to tie the game with two runs in the ninth, the Razorbacks grabbed a 6-5 lead in the 11th, only to have the Bulldogs answer in the bottom half of the inning on a two-out double by Tre Phelps, driving in pinch-runner Daniel Jackson from first.

Reliever Brian Zeldin gave Hunter his opportunity to play the hero.

Zeldin relieved Tyler McLoughlin in the ninth after McLoughlin gave up the tying home runs. Zeldin was magnificent.

In 3.1 innings, Zeldin (2-1) allowed just one hit, an unearned run with no walks, and three strikeouts for Georgia.

The Bulldogs had led 5-3 after seven on home runs by Kolby Branch and Slate Alford.

Meanwhile, starting pitcher Leighton Finley was rolling.

The junior allowed just one hit over the first three innings, striking out seven.

After Alford's home run in the bottom of the third extended Georgia’s margin to 4-1, a fourth-inning solo homer by Ryder Helfrick cut the Bulldogs’ advantage in half.

That would be all Finley would allow.

The native of Richmond Hill went 5.2 innings, the most for a Georgia starter this year, giving up just three hits, two runs (one earned), with one walk and eight strikeouts.

Georgia - which won the game despite five errors and 17 strikeouts - has little time to celebrate.

On Tuesday, the Bulldogs travel to Atlanta to take on 15th-ranked Georgia Tech at Truist Park before a weekend series that begins Thursday at Vanderbilt.

Still, Johnson admitted that winning a series from a team as talented as Arkansas was big.

“I think we fell to the illusion of competition, and we fell to what's on the front of their jersey. We fell to a ranking that was, you know, whatever, right? It doesn't matter,” Johnson said. “Rankings don’t matter until the season's over. That's what I tell them. I mean, if rankings matter, why do we even play right now? So we're already in the postseason? No, you've got to go win. You've got to keep going. I thought we did it yesterday, and we did it today. But man, that team over here is really, really good.”

Boxscore

...The victory marks Georgia’s first series win over a No. 1 team since 2021 at Vanderbilt and the first series win over a No. 1 team at Foley Field since 1993 versus Mississippi State.

... After the Razorbacks evened the score in both the ninth and 11th innings to extend the contest, a solo home run by junior Henry Hunter gave the Bulldogs a walk-off victory over top-ranked Arkansas. The blast marked the third walk-off home run by Georgia this year.

... Junior Kolby Branch blasted his fourth home run of the week and second of the series to drive in two runs in the second inning and put the Bulldogs up 3-1.

... Senior Slate Alford launched a solo shot in the third to record his 10th home run of the year and extend his on-base streak to 21 games.

... Junior Leighton Finley matched a season-high eight strikeouts in 5.2 innings of work, the longest start by a Georgia pitcher this season.

... Graduate Brian Zeldin pitched the final 3.1 innings to improve to 2-1 on the year. He held the Razorbacks to just one hit and one run while striking out three.