University of Georgia
32-6, 10-5
Arkansas
32-5, 12-3
Hunter's Blast Gives No. 7 Georgia Series Win Over No. 1 Arkansas
April 13, 2025 | Baseball
ATHENS, Ga. – Henry Hunter's two-out, 12th-inning home run lifted seventh-ranked Georgia to an SEC series win over top-ranked Arkansas in front of a sellout Foley Field crowd of 3,633 Sunday.
Fast Facts
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The victory marks Georgia's first series win over a No. 1 team since 2021 against Vanderbilt in Nashville, and the first series win over a No. 1 team at Foley Field since 1993 versus Mississippi State.
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After the Razorbacks evened the score in both the ninth and 11th innings to extend the contest, a solo home run by junior Henry Hunter gave the Bulldogs a walk-off victory over top-ranked Arkansas. The blast marked the third walk-off home run by Georgia this year and first series loss for the Razorbacks who had a 12-game winning streak in league play after taking Friday's opener here.
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Junior Kolby Branch blasted his fourth home run of the week and second of the series to drive in two runs in the second inning and put the Bulldogs up 3-1.
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Senior Slate Alford then launched a solo shot in the third to record his 10th home run of the year and extend his on-base streak to 21 games.
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Junior Leighton Finley matched a season-high eight strikeouts in 5.2 innings of work, the longest start by a Georgia pitcher this season.
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Graduate Brian Zeldin pitched the final 3.1 innings to improve to 2-1 on the year. He held the Razorbacks to just one hit and one run while striking out three. The loss went to Cole Gibler (1-1).
Key Quote
Ike Cousins Head Baseball Coach Wes Johnson
On Henry Hunter's walk-off home run...
"He works hard. It's a lot for him. Everybody knows about the struggles he's had against left-handers in the league. Going back to his experience, I know they forget about that and get the 3-1 count, and just a great swing on those. I didn't think it was that bad of a pitch. The thing I think Henry does, he's got a short memory. You have to have it in our game. The minute you start thinking you're really good and you quit working and keep dwelling on the past, good or bad, that's when you're going to fall. One of the things Henry does is he always believes he's going to win, and he did."
On coming back to win the series...
"That first game, I thought we played really good for six innings and then we fell to the illusion of competition and we fell to what's on the front of their jersey. We fell to a ranking that was by whoever, right? It doesn't matter. No rankings matter until the season's over. And that's what I tell them, 'If rankings matter, then why do we even play right now?' So we're already in the postseason, because you have to go win, and you have to keep going. I thought we did it yesterday. Arkansas is a really, really good team. For us to sit here and battle at home, you need to play these kind of games at home, and it's good. That's how you can rebound and not fall victim to getting swept. Our crowd was really good, that helps. You just have to go out and play solid baseball, and we did."
Henry Hunter | Sr. | C
On what it means to finish the series with a win…
"We've been working as a team. We really wanted this today, especially for Wes Johnson, knowing that he's been there. We just wanted to get back on track. The team knows what we are capable of, and we've been working hard as a group to get it right. We want to be as good as we possibly can, and we know the standard we've set. The team wants to meet that standard every time we go out there. That one felt good, for sure."
On how the team rallied together after Friday night…
"You've talked about the 'Wes Johnson effect' and what is means to Georgia, but we met as a group earlier this weekend and talked about how much it meant to him after Friday night. We wanted to get back on track and do it for him. He does a lot for us, and he fights his butt off for us. We felt like we owed it to him to go out there and play as hard as we could no matter what the results were."
Brian Zeldin | Gr. | RHP
On facing the No. 1-ranked offense in the country…
"It's a competition between me, the catcher and the other guy. It's just another guy. It doesn't matter what jersey they're wearing. It doesn't matter what their rank is. It's our job is to go out there and throw strikes, that's all it is."
Up Next
Georgia (32-6) will return to action Tuesday to face rival Georgia Tech (29-7) in the Spring Classic benefiting Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Truist Park in Atlanta, Ga., with first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Brian Zeldin (2-1)
L: Cole Gibler (1-1)
Batting:
2B: Charles Davalan 1
HR: Wehiwa Aloy 1 ; Ryder Helfrick 2
RBI: Charles Davalan 1 ; Wehiwa Aloy 1 ; Cam Kozeal 1 ; Ryder Helfrick 2
SH: Ryder Helfrick 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Charles Davalan 1 ; Wehiwa Aloy 1 ; Gabe Fraser 1 ; Ryder Helfrick 2 ; Carson Boles 1
Batting:
2B: Robbie Burnett 1 ; Tre Phelps 1 ; Devin Obee 1 ; Brennan Hudson 1
HR: Slate Alford 1 ; Kolby Branch 1 ; Henry Hunter 1
RBI: Slate Alford 1 ; Tre Phelps 1 ; Devin Obee 1 ; Kolby Branch 3 ; Henry Hunter 1
SF: Kolby Branch 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Slate Alford 1 ; Daniel Jackson 1 ; Ryan Black 1 ; Devin Obee 2 ; Kolby Branch 1 ; Henry Hunter 1
SB: Devin Obee 1
HBP: Ryland Zaborowski 1 ; Ryan Black 1 ; Devin Obee 1
