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The 10th-ranked Bulldogs beat the Sooners 6-3 on Saturday afternoon to win the series. Here is what stood out.
By: Olivia Sayer
Brennan Hudson on April 26, 2025 during Georgia baseball’s game against Oklahoma at Foley Field. (Conor Dillon/UGAAA).
Brennan Hudson walked up to the batter’s box with the opportunity to do something special. The junior infielder was not supposed to be the one in the spotlight, but his teammates still had a feeling something memorable was about to occur.
“Me and Slate [Alford] were talking, and he said he felt something come over him,” Kolby Branch said. “And something good was about to happen.”
Hudson, who entered the game due to an injury to leading hitter Ryland Zaborowski, smashed a three-run home run to give the Bulldogs a lead they never relinquished in their 6-3 victory over Oklahoma on Saturday.
Here is what stood out from Georgia’s series win over the 14th-ranked Sooners.
Brennan Hudson was prepared for the moment.
The minute the ball left Hudson’s bat, Georgia’s dugout went crazy. Every Bulldog was excited to see a player that works as hard as Hudson does deliver in a big moment.
“The energy in the dugout just went through the roof,” head baseball coach Wes Johnson said. “Everybody pulls for Huddy. He works really hard. He does a lot of different things. “The energy went through the roof right there.”
Hudson delivered in the pressure-filled moment because he was well-prepared and confident, which is a credit to Georgia’s coaching staff.
“It’s just preparation and confidence,” Hudson said. “Everything we do, the coaches, the staff, they just try to pound us with confidence and tell us that everybody out here is here for a reason. We all got you here for a reason. That really helps, and confidence is so key.”
Hudson now has six hits in his first season as a Bulldog, three home runs and three doubles. He jokingly said he is “hoping for a single to come down.”
Johnson did not have an update on Zaborowski after the game but said it was something with his arm. The graduate infielder, who leads the Bulldogs with a .372 batting average and 1.322 OPS, appeared to tweak something while making a relay throw to home plate.
“If I had an update, I’d give you one,” Johnson said. “I went and talked to Zabo in between [innings]. He was in a good place mentally and knows that we’re going to get him checked out and go from there.”
Playing against your brother is really cool.
Georgia’s series with Oklahoma was a special moment for junior shortstop Kolby Branch. He played against his younger brother Kyle for the first time with at least 20 family members in attendance.
“It was a picture perfect weekend,” Kolby Branch said. “[In the eighth inning], he was hitting. I almost started tearing up because I was like, ‘Man, that’s my brother out there.’ He’s sitting there doing the same thing I’m doing, and it’s pretty cool to see.”
Both Branch brothers had a good weekend at the plate — with 10 combined hits — but Kyle had Kolby beat until Saturday’s series finale. The older Branch hit two home runs to finish the game a perfect 3-for-3.
“It brings back a lot of stories,” Johnson said. “You hear a lot of stories of brotherhood and rivalry and so forth, so it was good to see that. I know they obviously love each other a lot, and they’re really tight.”
Leighton Finely continues to turn in solid starts despite early adversity.
Leighton Finley had an inconsistent start to the season with a 7.30 ERA in his first six appearances but has since found stability.
The junior right-hander provided length in five of his last six starts, including surrendering two runs through five innings against Oklahoma.
“He’ll be shadowed in this game,” said Johnson, unprompted, after Saturday’s series finale. “[He] threw the ball really well. “Five innings. I think he had one walk, seven strikeouts and just held him down. They really didn’t have an answer.”
Johnson said he considered sending Finley back out for the sixth inning, but his “pitch count was a little high” with 89 pitches thrown. Instead, the head coach called on Alton Davis II, who Johnson said “threw the ball really well” with 1.1 hitless innings.
Finley became the back-end starter for a Georgia rotation that recently became consistent with Brian Curley as the ace and Kolten Smith in the middle. Finley, Curley and Smith limited the Sooners to six runs in 14.2 innings with 16 strikeouts and four walks.
Georgia took the series over Oklahoma but did not provide Curley with much run support in its series-opening loss on Thursday. When the junior right-hander left the game in the sixth, the Bulldogs only had one run on the scoreboard.
Thursday’s loss marked Georgia’s fourth straight defeat in a game started by Curley, despite him surrendering just two earned runs in each game and going at least five innings in all of them.
The Bulldogs love to play at Foley Field.
Georgia loves to play at Foley Field. In Johnson’s two seasons at the helm, The Bulldogs are 59-10 at home with four of those losses coming in the final months of the 2024 season.
“Everybody knows we play really good at home,” Johnson said prior to the series. “Our team is built for this ballpark. Everything is comfortable. It’s your locker room. It’s your team room. It’s your bed at night.”
Georgia is averaging almost 10.5 runs per game at its home ballpark. On the road, that number is 5.94. Aside from the Bulldogs’ series at Florida where they plated 40 runs in three games, they did not record double digit runs away from Foley Field. At home, the Bulldogs scored at least 10 runs in 14 of their 29 games.
Georgia built its roster to win at Foley Field by constructing its lineup around power. The Bulldogs hit seven home runs in their three game series with Oklahoma, which matched their total from their last five road games.
“We have to hit home runs in our ballpark,” Johnson said earlier in the season. “When I took the job here, one of the things that stuck out when I was looking at surface numbers is teams who were winning the game, averaged almost three home runs a game. You’ve got to hit homers to win here, and the ballpark plays. Those were things I looked at, and I said, ‘We’ve got to get guys to hit homers.'”
Up next
The Bulldogs, who are now 35-11 on the season and 12-9 in SEC play, will welcome Kennesaw State to Foley Field on Tuesday night for a 7 p.m. first pitch. It will be a rematch of February’s chippy game that saw Georgia win 6-4.