Georgia baseball coach Scott Stricklin still shakes his head and laughs while recalling a phone call he received last summer from Keegan McGovern.

It certainly caught him off guard.

“He called me over the summer to ask permission if he could come back,” Stricklin said. “It was one of the funniest calls I ever got, I told him ‘Yes, it’s OK for you to come back.’”

No doubt Stricklin is glad he did.

One week into the season, McGovern is as hot as any player in the country, as evidenced by his three-home run performance in the second game of Saturday’s double-header against Charlotte. The Bulldogs picked up a series sweep with a 10-7 win.

Georgia won the first game on Saturday by a score of 6-4, notching three runs in the eighth for the come-from-behind victory.

“I told Coach if he’d have me I’d be glad to come back one more year, try to get this program where it needs to be and finish my career off right,” said McGovern, who now has six home runs in Georgia’s seven games.

“One of the main things is I’m trying to be relaxed at the plate and make my hands work,” McGovern said. “After that, whatever happens, happens.”

All three of McGovern’s homers were bombs.

His first home run cleared the batter’s eye in dead center field, with the second a shot deep into the trees beyond the right-center field fence.

McGovern’s third homer – which came in the eighth – hit off the top of batter’s eye, a line drive that Stricklin said caused him to give a double take.

“The last ball he hit today was the hardest ball I’ve seen hit in a long time,” Stricklin said. “It was a straight line drive that hit the top of the batter’s eye and it would have kept going. He’s just really comfortable right now, he’s hitting the ball to all fields and that makes him really difficult to pitch to.”

Designated hitter Michael Curry – who has been preaching the power of positivity to McGovern – joked he might be doing too good of a job.

“One thing I’ve talked about with him this year is, ‘Keegan, have that confidence’ I think he’s listening to me,” said Curry, before breaking into a wide grin. “I don’t want him to listen to me too much because I’m still trying to lead the team; what’s going on here? But no, I told Keegan I’ve never been so jealous and proud of someone at the same time, just messing with him, but that is amazing. I couldn’t be happier for the kid.”

Behind McGovern’s bat, the Bulldogs improved to 6-1, which tied the 2015 team for the best start in Stricklin’s five years at Georgia.

“I feel great. I think our team is playing well. We got a little sloppy at the end there, I don’t like that, but at the end of the day we found a way to win,” Stricklin said. “They’re going to beat a lot of people and we found a way to sweep a series which is really difficult to do.”

Chase Adkins picked up the win for Georgia, allowing two runs on five hits with zero walks and one strikeout.

Freshman Ryan Webb got the save after relieving Blake Cairnes in the ninth by striking out the potential game-tying run at the plate.

As mentioned, Georgia’s victory in Game 1 was a come-from-behind effort. The Bulldogs scored three runs in the eighth after trailing 4-3.

The Bulldogs did get some help.

With runners at first and third, Curry hit a soft liner to left that Charlotte's Todd Elwood misplayed for a two-run error, putting Georgia up 5-4. Curry later scored on a groundout by Adam Sasser.

Will Proctor (2-1) picked up the win with three innings of hitless relief, walking two with four strikeouts while Zac Kristofak tossed a scoreless ninth for his first save.

Starting pitcher Emerson Hancock went five innings, allowed three earned runs with two walks and two strikeouts.

Curry led Georgia’s six-hit effort with three hits and two RBI.

The Bulldogs play again Tuesday night against Wofford.