You might have seen photos of Georgia’s in-game home run celebrations, where the player going deep will don a German Shephard mask for a quick run past teammates down the dugout runway.

We now know how the tradition came to be.

“Brandt Pancer (Bulldog relief pitcher) was like ‘Hey, we need something funny.’ So he went and bought it on Amazon. We were like, alright, so we started doing it,” Corey Collins said. “You can see Tre Phelps fell in love with it as we all did; Logan Jordan has taken it to heart, so it’s a great team thing.”

Bulldog head coach Wes Johnson shakes his head.

"Oh, we could have a whole segment on that. The guys just wanted a prop in the dugout, right? I said, 'Hey, when did we become the German Shepherds? I thought we were Bulldogs,’” Johnson said. “No, there's been a lot of fun with that. They said they couldn't find a Bulldog mask on Amazon or wherever they went. The guys have fun with it. I want our guys to have fun. We have enough serious things in life we have to deal with on a daily basis. Yeah, that's the dog mask. It's a product of the guys who came up with it. I let them come up with it. I just laughed when I saw the German Shepherd mask."

Alas, the mask does have some disadvantages.

For example, considering the Bulldogs have hit 145 home runs, is the mask, let’s say, a little nasty?

“You have to run it through the washer before too long, but surprisingly, it doesn’t stink much, at least I don’t think,” Charlie Condon said. “But the more and more we use it, you kind of put it on to do its purpose, then take it off pretty quick.”

Collins chuckled.

“People can’t see out of it anyway,” he said.

“It’s dangerous,” Condon added.

But hey, whatever works.

“Absolutely, yeah,” Condon said. “That’s what that stuff is designed for. That’s what hopefully it will do this weekend.”

Johnson updated the status of pitchers Kolten Smith and Charlie Goldstein after Friday’s workout at Foley Field.

The news is good and bad.

Smith (9-2, 4:41) will get the start for the Bulldogs, against North Carolina State’s Sam Highfill (6-2, 5.35).

“Oh, he’s fine, he’s fine,” Johnson said of Smith, who had to leave the game against UNC-Wilmington with cramping in his wrist and forearm.

The news wasn’t so good on Goldstein.

"Charlie won't be with us this weekend,” Johnson said. “Charlie will be here, but he won't be on the active roster."

Condon was named a finalist for both the Golden Spikes and Dick Howser Award earlier this week.

However, individual accolades are the last thing on his mind.

“It means a lot to me, obviously, but kind of what I’ve always said, it’s an individual recognition,” Condon said. “It’s an individual award but it means a lot more than that because you can’t win that award without a lot of good people around you and a lot of people doing their job. It might be a solo recognition, but I like to think of it as an accolade for this group. I’m honored to be up for it, but I think it speaks more to the group than it does to myself.”

Condon said there is no comparison when asked how winning such an award would compare to a trip to the College World Series.

“Way more (to go to the CWS), obviously,” he said. “Just to share that experience with this group, to get to share those memories with this group, it’s why I play the game, it’s why we play the game. We’re going to keep pushing for that.”

Johnson said the fact Georgia has already been busy in the transfer portal should come as no surprise.

The Bulldogs have added six new players, including three in the past couple of days – infielder Ryan Black (Texas Arlington), third baseman/first baseman Ryland Zaborowski (Miami-Ohio), and first baseman Charlie Jones (Air Force Academy).

"Yeah, it's just the world we live in now, right? You can't sit back and wait. Yeah, we've had a couple of commitments and had guys on campus this week,” Johnson said. “It's that time of year. It's a good thing. You want this, not sleeping right now. That means things are going the way they should be.