University of Georgia Athletics
Weber Gets His Breakout Season
May 12, 2016 | Baseball
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By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
Skyler Weber is alone on the Georgia baseball team. The junior right fielder and backup catcher, who has started every game this season, is the only Bulldog batting over .300. He got there by raising his average by more than 70 points from last season.
A career .251 hitter following his first two seasons with the Bulldogs, Weber is batting .316 after 49 games this season. Junior center fielder Stephen Wrenn, second on the team with a .293 average, is not at all surprised by Weber's breakout season at the plate.
"I could have told you at the start of the season that Skyler was going to do this," Wrenn said. "Just as a person and a player, he's matured a ton. He's one of the best teammates in there and he's been very, very positive and very confident, and everything that's happening off the field right now is translating on the field. He's just really been awesome."
In Georgia's 6-0 win over Western Carolina at Foley Field on Wednesday, Weber delivered a two-run double to left-center field in the bottom of the fourth inning, pushing Georgia's lead to 5-0. The drive extended Weber's hitting streak to nine games.
After the Gainesville, Ga., native's 1-for-4 night against the Catamounts -- disappointing by the standard he's set for himself this season -- Weber leads the Bulldogs in batting average, hits (67), RBIs (30) and doubles (12). He's also second on the squad with 10 stolen bases.
"I've made a couple of changes in my approach, knowing what I want to do, what pitch I want -- basically being selective, selective aggression," Weber said. "Other than that, using all fields. I struggled my freshman and sophomore years because I would just get too pull-happy. The game was fast and I've really slowed myself down and allowed my hands to work."
Weber played plenty as a freshman in 2014, starting 32 games, and hit .261, with 12 RBIs. Last season, starting 49 of the Dogs' 52 games, he batted .245, hit the first three home runs of his career and led Georgia with 37 RBIs.
His batting average is up 71 points from last season, a monumental jump, but that's not all. While far from a power hitter, the 5-foot-10, 176-pound Weber has five more doubles than he did as a sophomore and he's hit four home runs, one more than last season.
"Even after my freshman and sophomore years, disappointing average-wise, I've always believed in myself," Weber said.
Georgia coach Scott Stricklin said one major element to Weber's improvement this season has been not putting so much pressure on himself.
"He's more comfortable, he's a little bit older, a little bit more experienced, he understands that when he makes an out it's not the end of the world and he's going to have another at-bat, and another at-bat after that," Stricklin said. "He's a competitor and he kind of wears those at-bats on his shoulders sometimes, and certainly more so last year.
"He felt like last year was going to be his breakout year and put a little pressure on himself, and this year we talked to him from the very start: Hey, man, trust yourself, be yourself, and he's a really good baseball player and he's been our most consistent guy."
As of Thursday morning, the super-strong SEC has three teams batting above .300, led by the slugging Texas A&M's .320 average. The No. 2-ranked Aggies also share the league lead with 45 home runs, and lead the SEC alone with 347 runs scored. A&M has six batters (with at least 100 at-bats) hitting better than .300, while top-ranked Florida has four.
Last season, the Bulldogs had two over .300: Wrenn (.324) and Jared Walsh (.306). Georgia also had a pair over .300 in 2014.
As a team, Georgia is hitting .253 for the season. In SEC play, which has featured a gauntlet of highly ranked teams, the Dogs' average is .259. Weber has also done his best work in league play. In 24 games against SEC competition, he's batting .330 and hit three home runs.
Asked how satisfying it is to see all his hard work paying off this season, he smiled as he answered.
"All the hitters in the lineup, we all grind, and it's really awesome to get the results that you've been craving," he said.
Georgia begins a three-game series at Missouri on Friday.
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.