Diamond Dawgs Remain #1

Baseball

Coming off a series win over fifth-ranked Arkansas, the Georgia baseball team is ranked No. 1 in the ESPN/USA Today Top 25 Coaches' Poll for the second straight week. The Bulldogs (31-8, 13-5 SEC) received eight out of 31 first place votes.

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

Junior first baseman Rich Poythress went 4-for-4 with three home runs, a double and a walk to lead top-ranked Georgia to an 11-7 win over Kennesaw State Tuesday at Foley Field.

Poythress is the sixth player in Georgia history to hit three home runs in a game and first since Jeff Keppinger against Coastal Carolina in the 2001 NCAA Athens Regional. The Grovetown, Ga., native is now fifth on Georgia's all-time runs list with 37 and his 20 home runs this year is tied for the fourth most in a single season. Poythress' double in the first inning narrowly missed leaving the yard, and his three-home run performance came on Keppinger's 29th birthday.

Jacksonville State scored six runs in the fourth inning including five runs with two outs and beat top-ranked Georgia, 9-7, Wednesday in front of a record 2,887 fans at Rudy Abbott Field.

Women's Basketball

Teresa Edwards, a two-time All-American for the Georgia Lady Dawgs and the only basketball player -- male or female -- to represent the United States in five Olympic Games -- has been nominated for the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame.

From now through June 16, fans can cast their votes for the 2009 class of the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame online at www.teamusa.org/halloffame.

A native of Cairo, Ga., Edwards owns the unique distinction of being both the youngest (20 in 1984) and oldest (36 in 2000) U.S. Olympic women's basketball player to ever win a Gold Medal. She also was the youngest women's basketball player ever invited to participate in a USA Basket ballnational tournament when she competed in the 1981 National Sports Festival during the summer following her junior year of high school.

Edwards then earned a spot on the 1984 U.S. Olympic Team soon after completing her sophomore season in Athens. She secured the first of five Olympic Medals­ including four Golds ­ in Los Angeles. Those Olympics began a remarkable run when Edwards was the backbone of virtually every United States National Team to enter a major international competition from 1984-2000. She helped the U.S. secure additional Olympic Gold Medals in 1988, 1996 and 2000, as well as a Bronze Medal in 1992.

While she capped her career as co-captain of the U.S. squad in Sydney in 2000, Edwards is most remembered for her spectacular effort during the 1996 Centennial Games in Atlanta. She was chosen as the one athlete among the 10,320 competitors from 197 countries in those Games to recite the Athlete's Oath at the Opening Ceremony. Edwards then led the Americans' undefeated run to Olympic Gold while defeating their opponents by more than 28 points per game.

All told, Edwards played in 216 games representing the United States and compiled some incredible statistics -- 2,008 points, 890 assists, 576 rebounds and 372 steals and a career field goal percentage of 50.3. Of a possible 18 medals competing for USA Basketball, she won 14 gold, one silver and three bronze medals, and U.S. teams with Edwards on the roster compiled an overall record of 205-14 for a 93.6 winning percentage.

Softball

Sophomore Alisa Goler tied four school records with one swing of the bat, a three-run home run, to lead eighth-ranked Georgia (34-8) to an 8-0, five-inning victory over Western Carolina (11-28) at the UGA Softball Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.

Goler, a native of Frankfort, Ill., highlighted a seven-run third inning by blasting the three-run home run to right, and in that one swing of the bat, she tied three individual player records as well as the team record for home runs in a single season. The three individual marks tied by Goler on the hit included the single-season records for home runs, extra-base hits and RBI.

"It was a heck of a hit," Georgia head coach Lu Harris-Champer said of Goler's home run. "She crushed it."

It marked the 16th time this season in which Goler has dialed long distance, and it was also her 32nd extra-base hit in 2009. Both of those marks tie the respective school records held by Megan McAllister, who hit 16 home runs in both 2005 and 2006. In 2006, McAllister set the single-season record for extra base hits with 16 doubles in addition to the 16 home runs. Goler's 32 extra base hits this season have also come on 16 doubles and 16 home runs. Additionally, Goler's three-run blast raised her season RBI total to 65, which ties the school record for runs-batted in set by Kim Wendland in 2004.

"It was obviously exciting to hit that home run and knockout three records at once," Goler said. "The best thing about it is that Kim Wendland held the RBI record and Megan McAllister held the home run and extra-base hits records, and those two players are great hitters. It's great to be in the same league as them, but I think what was really important was that we tied season home run record as a team. That's awesome to me. To see the improvement that we've made from last year is amazing."

Vollyball

The Georgia volleyball team participated in the Second-Annual Southeastern Conference Coaches Beach Volleyball Championships this past Saturday at "Fiesta on Siesta Key," and the defending champion Dawgs fell just one place short of repeating their title.

"Fiesta On Siesta Key," a beach volleyball competition billed as one of the largest collegiate volleyball events in the country, featured Second-Annual SEC Coaches Beach Volleyball Championships as well as the Collegiate Beach Volleyball Challenge. A total of 96 teams from 23 schools from across the country participated in the one-day event in Siesta Key, Fla.

Women's Golf

Georgia's Marta Silva Zamora has been selected as the SEC Freshman of the Year for women's golf, the league office in Birmingham, Ala., announced today. In addition, Silva Zamora and Mallory Hetzel were named first-team All-SEC in balloting of league coaches, while Carolina Andrade was tabbed second-team All-SEC and also was honored on the league's Community Service Team for women's golf.

A native of Santiago de Compostela, Spain, Silva Zamora essentially wrapped up SEC Freshman of the Year honors by winning the individual title at last weekend's SEC Championships. She secured a four-shot victory by shooting 3-under 210. The victory was Silva Zamora's second of the spring. She also tied for medalist honors (with Hetzel) at the UNLV Spring Invitational.
Silva Zamora sports a team-best 73.49 stroke average and also leads the Bulldogs in par-or-better rounds (12) and top-10 individual finishes (five).