Diamond Dawgs Ranked #1

Baseball

For the third time this season, the Georgia baseball team is ranked No. 1 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll released today.

Arizona State is No. 2 followed by LSU, Rice and North Carolina to round out the top five.

The Dawgs garnered 17 of the 33 first place votes.

Georgia (29-6, 11-4 SEC) swept Kentucky last weekend to gain sole possession of first place in the SEC. The Dawgs, who lead Florida by two games in the SEC East, are ranked No. 2 by Collegiate Baseball and No. 8 by Baseball America.

Georgia plays host to No. 10 Georgia Tech Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Foley Field, and fifth-ranked Arkansas visits Athens for a three-game series beginning Friday. The Razorbacks trail Georgia by a half game in the SEC standings.

First baseman Rich Poythress continues to swing a hot bat. His 60 RBI leads the NCAA, and he is ranked in the top two in the SEC in eight statistical categories including first in batting average, on-base percentage, hits and RBI, and second in slugging percentage, runs scored and total bases.

Through 35 games this season, Poythress is batting .430 with 16 home runs and is on track to shatter the school single season RBI record of 77 set last season by Gordon Beckham.

Basketball

The spring signing period begins Wednesday and new coach Mark Fox is hoping to ink a couple of new Dawgs. Point guard Vincent Williams of South Dade High School in Homestead, Florida and Trae Golden from Powder Springs, Georgia are both high on the Dawgs wish list.