University of Georgia Athletics
Alford More Than Looking The Part
February 27, 2025 | Baseball, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Great players and great athletes, regardless of the sport, come in all shapes and sizes. Stetson Bennett may not have ever intimidated anyone when he got off the Georgia football team's bus on Saturdays, but two national championships and two offensive MVP awards from those championship games — as well as one trip to New York as a Heisman Trophy finalist — tells you all you need to know about what the undersized quarterback did on the field.
Slate Alford most definitely looks the part getting off the bus. The big senior infielder — he's listed this season at 6-foot-3 and 212 pounds — looks like what he is: a big, strong basher of baseballs. Ten games into this season, Alford has been among the sixth-ranked Bulldogs' top hitters with a .387 batting average (second on the team), 14 RBIs (also second), a team-high four doubles, two home runs (tied for second) and 12 walks (third), with just four strikeouts (tied for lowest among everyday players).
"I tell you what, man, Slate's been awesome," Wes Johnson, Georgia's Ike Cousins Head Baseball Coach, said Saturday after Slate had two hits and scored twice in the Bulldogs' 10-4 win over the University of Illinois-Chicago at Foley Field.
There was a stretch that included part of Friday's doubleheader and Saturday's game in which Alford had hits in seven of his last eight at-bats, with three doubles, a triple, a home run, five RBIs and three walks. Regardless of the opponent, that's very impressive stuff.
"Baseball, you get hot, you get cold," Alford said. "I try to just keep focusing on what it takes to be successful every at-bat, and not worry about the result. Baseball is a weird game: you can smoke one right at somebody (for an out) or you can hit a blooper right over somebody for a hit — they all even out."
In Sunday's 17-3 rout of the Flames, Alford doubled in his first at-bat, just as he did Saturday, and later scored, helping the Bulldogs jump out to a 4-2 lead. Alford later drove in a run and was hit by a pitch. He followed that up Tuesday with a 403-foot two-run homer and another RBI in the Bulldogs' 7-3 at Georgia State, stretching his hitting streak to six games. The Bulldogs begin a four-game series against Florida Gulf Coast at Foley Field on Friday.
Last season, Alford's first at Georgia after transferring from Mississippi State, he started 60 games, at a variety of positions: 38 at second base, 12 at third, eight as the designated hitter and two at first. He hit .300 with 17 home runs, 13 doubles and 69 RBIs.
Alford said he's really trying to focus more on the process than the result this season. Something that's not always easy to do.
"I think every baseball player would be lying if they said they didn't look at stats and think about them. But I think the great ones, they learn how to compartmentalize and they learn how to just take what the game gives them and just focus on the things that make them successful," he said.
"It's hard for everyone. I think it's a constant fight."
Alford was listed at 236 pounds in last season's media guide, 24 pounds heavier than he is this season. He's spent a lot of the past year reshaping his body and working to become a better all-around hitter and player, Johnson said.
"He's working really, really hard on his body," Johnson said. "He's moving faster, his plate discipline (has improved); he's now taking singles. It's not like he's trying to hit singles, but he's taking what they're giving him later in the count."
Johnson said Alford would sometimes over-swing and maybe strike out when facing two strikes. "Now, boy, you look and he's trying to what we call 'back up balls,' or hit them to the back side. And that's what happens when you get older and you're a little more mature."
Alford had two seasons under his belt when he arrived at Georgia last season, but he was one of the new guys on the roster in Johnson's first season as head coach. Now, he's one of the key returning players on a squad with a lot of new faces. It's a role he's embracing.
"Oh, yeah, absolutely. We've got a ton of dudes that are leaders on this team. We've got an old group and I'm super excited about this season."
Georgia's series against Florida Gulf Coast is the start of a 13-game homestand at Foley Field. First pitch Friday is at 3 p.m.
Staff Writer
Great players and great athletes, regardless of the sport, come in all shapes and sizes. Stetson Bennett may not have ever intimidated anyone when he got off the Georgia football team's bus on Saturdays, but two national championships and two offensive MVP awards from those championship games — as well as one trip to New York as a Heisman Trophy finalist — tells you all you need to know about what the undersized quarterback did on the field.
Slate Alford most definitely looks the part getting off the bus. The big senior infielder — he's listed this season at 6-foot-3 and 212 pounds — looks like what he is: a big, strong basher of baseballs. Ten games into this season, Alford has been among the sixth-ranked Bulldogs' top hitters with a .387 batting average (second on the team), 14 RBIs (also second), a team-high four doubles, two home runs (tied for second) and 12 walks (third), with just four strikeouts (tied for lowest among everyday players).
"I tell you what, man, Slate's been awesome," Wes Johnson, Georgia's Ike Cousins Head Baseball Coach, said Saturday after Slate had two hits and scored twice in the Bulldogs' 10-4 win over the University of Illinois-Chicago at Foley Field.
There was a stretch that included part of Friday's doubleheader and Saturday's game in which Alford had hits in seven of his last eight at-bats, with three doubles, a triple, a home run, five RBIs and three walks. Regardless of the opponent, that's very impressive stuff.
"Baseball, you get hot, you get cold," Alford said. "I try to just keep focusing on what it takes to be successful every at-bat, and not worry about the result. Baseball is a weird game: you can smoke one right at somebody (for an out) or you can hit a blooper right over somebody for a hit — they all even out."
In Sunday's 17-3 rout of the Flames, Alford doubled in his first at-bat, just as he did Saturday, and later scored, helping the Bulldogs jump out to a 4-2 lead. Alford later drove in a run and was hit by a pitch. He followed that up Tuesday with a 403-foot two-run homer and another RBI in the Bulldogs' 7-3 at Georgia State, stretching his hitting streak to six games. The Bulldogs begin a four-game series against Florida Gulf Coast at Foley Field on Friday.
Last season, Alford's first at Georgia after transferring from Mississippi State, he started 60 games, at a variety of positions: 38 at second base, 12 at third, eight as the designated hitter and two at first. He hit .300 with 17 home runs, 13 doubles and 69 RBIs.
Alford said he's really trying to focus more on the process than the result this season. Something that's not always easy to do.
"I think every baseball player would be lying if they said they didn't look at stats and think about them. But I think the great ones, they learn how to compartmentalize and they learn how to just take what the game gives them and just focus on the things that make them successful," he said.
"It's hard for everyone. I think it's a constant fight."
Alford was listed at 236 pounds in last season's media guide, 24 pounds heavier than he is this season. He's spent a lot of the past year reshaping his body and working to become a better all-around hitter and player, Johnson said.
"He's working really, really hard on his body," Johnson said. "He's moving faster, his plate discipline (has improved); he's now taking singles. It's not like he's trying to hit singles, but he's taking what they're giving him later in the count."
Johnson said Alford would sometimes over-swing and maybe strike out when facing two strikes. "Now, boy, you look and he's trying to what we call 'back up balls,' or hit them to the back side. And that's what happens when you get older and you're a little more mature."
Alford had two seasons under his belt when he arrived at Georgia last season, but he was one of the new guys on the roster in Johnson's first season as head coach. Now, he's one of the key returning players on a squad with a lot of new faces. It's a role he's embracing.
"Oh, yeah, absolutely. We've got a ton of dudes that are leaders on this team. We've got an old group and I'm super excited about this season."
Georgia's series against Florida Gulf Coast is the start of a 13-game homestand at Foley Field. First pitch Friday is at 3 p.m.
Assistant Sports Communications Director 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.
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