University of Georgia Athletics
Photo by: Conor Dillon/UGAAA
Branch Brothers Face Off As Sooners Visit Bulldogs
April 23, 2025 | Baseball, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
The Branch brothers clearly have a knack for memorable first home runs.
Back in 2023, when he was a freshman at Baylor, Georgia shortstop Kolby Branch, in his fourth career game, hit a grand slam against Houston Christian for his first collegiate home run. His second homer, which he hit six games later against Youngstown State, was also a grand slam.
"Was it really? I knew my first one was a grand slam, but I'd forgotten about my second one. That's wild," Branch said during a Quick Chat last May.
Kyle Branch is a freshman second baseman at Oklahoma, and in the Sooners' season opener against Lehigh on Feb. 14, he hit an inside-the-park home run.
"That was an awesome moment," Kolby said Wednesday of his brother's first home run.
Starting Thursday night at Foley Field, the No. 10-ranked Bulldogs (33-10) host No. 14 Oklahoma (29-11) in a key three-game series that will pit the Branch brothers against one another for the first time. Both teams are 10-8 in SEC play and tied for sixth in the standings with four series remaining in the regular season.
Last season, after transferring to Georgia, Kolby hit .267 with 17 home runs, 58 RBIs and 10 doubles. This spring, he's fourth on the team with a .304 average; he's also hit eight homers, driven in 24 runs and scored 33 times.
Kolby started every game at shortstop his freshman year and ended up with a .325 batting average, six home runs and 41 RBIs — all team-highs for the Bears. He also made Collegiate Baseball's Freshman All-America team and the Big 12's All-Freshman squad.
Kyle has started all 40 games for the Sooners so far and is fourth on the team with a .302 batting average. He has two homers, 22 RBIs, 29 runs scored and 12 stolen bases. Kolby is super busy with his season and school, but he said he's keeping track of what his younger brother is doing on the diamond.
"I look at his stats and he's doing great, he's kicking tail. I'm just proud of him and hope he keeps it going," Kolby said.
Just not this weekend, of course.
The competitive brothers are talking some smack this week, as you might expect. There has been talk of what the middle infielders might do if the other gets on base and there's a tag to be made at second base.
"That'll be a fun one," Kolby said.
Their father, Rusty, played collegiate tennis at Oklahoma Baptist, but his sons quickly took to baseball. Kolby said his dad did put tennis balls to use while trying to make him a better fielder.
"He never took me to the tennis courts. But he would grab a bucket of tennis balls and a tennis racket, put me on a wall and slap tennis balls at me — and I just had to catch them," Kolby said last May. "I played first base at the time, so I just sat against the wall and he'd slap the tennis balls at me."
Rusty and their mom, Kari, will be watching intently this weekend, knowing that one son will finish each game victorious and the other will walk off the field with a loss.
"My mom's an angel, and she's just happy to see us out there. She's proud of us no matter what," Kolby said. "My dad, he said 'The team that I believe's got the best chance to go to the postseason, that's who I'm rooting for [laughs].' He's gonna bandwagon along with the winner, so let's have a good weekend, and hopefully things will go our way."
Staff Writer
The Branch brothers clearly have a knack for memorable first home runs.
Back in 2023, when he was a freshman at Baylor, Georgia shortstop Kolby Branch, in his fourth career game, hit a grand slam against Houston Christian for his first collegiate home run. His second homer, which he hit six games later against Youngstown State, was also a grand slam.
"Was it really? I knew my first one was a grand slam, but I'd forgotten about my second one. That's wild," Branch said during a Quick Chat last May.
Kyle Branch is a freshman second baseman at Oklahoma, and in the Sooners' season opener against Lehigh on Feb. 14, he hit an inside-the-park home run.
"That was an awesome moment," Kolby said Wednesday of his brother's first home run.
Starting Thursday night at Foley Field, the No. 10-ranked Bulldogs (33-10) host No. 14 Oklahoma (29-11) in a key three-game series that will pit the Branch brothers against one another for the first time. Both teams are 10-8 in SEC play and tied for sixth in the standings with four series remaining in the regular season.
Last season, after transferring to Georgia, Kolby hit .267 with 17 home runs, 58 RBIs and 10 doubles. This spring, he's fourth on the team with a .304 average; he's also hit eight homers, driven in 24 runs and scored 33 times.
Kolby started every game at shortstop his freshman year and ended up with a .325 batting average, six home runs and 41 RBIs — all team-highs for the Bears. He also made Collegiate Baseball's Freshman All-America team and the Big 12's All-Freshman squad.
Kyle has started all 40 games for the Sooners so far and is fourth on the team with a .302 batting average. He has two homers, 22 RBIs, 29 runs scored and 12 stolen bases. Kolby is super busy with his season and school, but he said he's keeping track of what his younger brother is doing on the diamond.
"I look at his stats and he's doing great, he's kicking tail. I'm just proud of him and hope he keeps it going," Kolby said.
Just not this weekend, of course.
The competitive brothers are talking some smack this week, as you might expect. There has been talk of what the middle infielders might do if the other gets on base and there's a tag to be made at second base.
"That'll be a fun one," Kolby said.
Their father, Rusty, played collegiate tennis at Oklahoma Baptist, but his sons quickly took to baseball. Kolby said his dad did put tennis balls to use while trying to make him a better fielder.
"He never took me to the tennis courts. But he would grab a bucket of tennis balls and a tennis racket, put me on a wall and slap tennis balls at me — and I just had to catch them," Kolby said last May. "I played first base at the time, so I just sat against the wall and he'd slap the tennis balls at me."
Rusty and their mom, Kari, will be watching intently this weekend, knowing that one son will finish each game victorious and the other will walk off the field with a loss.
"My mom's an angel, and she's just happy to see us out there. She's proud of us no matter what," Kolby said. "My dad, he said 'The team that I believe's got the best chance to go to the postseason, that's who I'm rooting for [laughs].' He's gonna bandwagon along with the winner, so let's have a good weekend, and hopefully things will go our way."
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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