Georgia Sports News

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  Savarino's stoppage goal lifts Real Salt Lake past Atlanta

  SANDY, Utah (AP) - Jefferson Savarino's long-range blast late in stoppage time gave Real Salt Lake a 2-1 victory over Atlanta United on Friday night. Savarino shook free and sent a high, hard shot from outside the box to the far side for his second goal of the season. Sebastian Saucedo opened the scoring for Salt Lake (6-6-1) in the 36th minute. Outside the box, Saucedo put the ball between diving goalkeeper Brian Guzan and the post. Josef Mart nez tied it for defending MSL champion Atlanta (6-5-2) in the 78th minute. Mart nez finished a run down the middle by slipping around a defender in the box just in time to slot Franco Escobar's centering pass past Nick Rimando.
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  Swanson homers twice as Braves beat Cardinals 5-2

  ST. LOUIS (AP) - A little lineup tweak is working out quite well for Dansby Swanson and the Atlanta Braves. Swanson homered twice and Freddie Freeman also connected, helping Mike Foltynewicz and Atlanta beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-2 on Friday night. The Braves improved to 11-3 since manager Brian Snitker put Swanson in the No. 2 slot ahead of Freeman on May 10. 'I think we help each other a lot,' Swanson said. 'I would like to think that I help him, especially if I'm on base, that he would be able to get pitched differently. But having him hit behind me is fun.' Swanson drove Miles Mikolas' first pitch of the sixth inning over the wall in left, giving Atlanta a 2-1 lead. Freeman then hit his 13th homer, giving Atlanta its third set of back-to-back homers this season. 'Completely different than last year,' Freeman said about Swanson, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 amateur draft. 'He's staying on pitches a lot longer, seeing balls a lot longer, and putting the barrel on the ball. He's been huge for us.' Swanson and Freeman also hit consecutive homers in the second inning Wednesday night in San Francisco. Foltynewicz (1-3) allowed an unearned run in six innings in his first win since Sept. 28. The right-hander struck out seven and walked none. 'I think that's the biggest thing right now is confidence, just throwing the ball with conviction,' Foltynewicz said. 'We kept them off balance just enough the whole night.' Swanson helped put it away with a two-run drive off Giovanny Gallegos in the eighth for his 10th homer. It was his second career multihomer game. 'It's really fun to watch,' Snitker said. 'He's a confident kid. He's been in the league another year. I sound like a broken record, but it's the truth. He's playing with a lot of confidence and knows he belongs here.' Mikolas (4-5) matched his career high with nine strikeouts in seven innings. He was charged with three runs and seven hits while exceeding his number of losses from all of last season. 'I had a couple games early in the season last year where I gave up four or five runs and we scored eight or nine and a couple tough ones like this,' Mikolas said. 'That is baseball. Things tend to even out, and I think that's why myself and a lot of the guys around the clubhouse aren't too worried.' Atlanta grabbed the lead when Brian McCann scored on Ronald Acu a Jr.'s double play in the third. St. Louis tied it in the bottom half. Kolten Wong reached second on rookie Austin Riley's error. Harrison Bader then tripled to center off Acu a's glove, but he was tagged out after being caught in a rundown between third and home when Foltynewicz cut off the throw to the plate. 'That was a huge confidence point right there, just to get him out,' Foltynewicz said. 'I could have had a guy on third, no outs, and it could have been a big battle. But we got that guy out there and now we just, with no one on, now we go.' RUN PRODUCER Cardinals slugger Matt Carpenter got his 500th career RBI when he hit a 442-foot home run to right field off Sean Newcomb in the ninth. BULLPEN-BOUND The Cardinals announced struggling right-hander Michael Wacha is going to work out of the bullpen. Wacha is 2-2 with a 6.39 ERA in his last five starts. Wacha last pitched in relief on Sept. 26, 2016, versus Cincinnati. TRAINER'S ROOM Braves: OF Matt Joyce was placed on the bereavement list following the death of his uncle. Snitker says Joyce will miss all three games against St. Louis and return for Tuesday's home game against Washington. RHP Kyle Wright was recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett. Cardinals: RHP Ryan Helsley was optioned to Triple-A Memphis. OF Lane Thomas remains with the club after being recalled to serve as the team's 26th man for Game 2 of Wednesday's split-doubleheader versus Kansas City. UP NEXT Braves RHP Mike Soroka (5-1, 1.01 ERA) faces Cardinals RHP Dakota Hudson (3-3, 4.30 ERA) on Saturday night. Soroka allowed three hits in seven scoreless innings in his only previous outing versus St. Louis on May 15. ___ More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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  Georgia freshman QB D’Wan Mathis’ condition upgraded after emergency brain cyst surgery

  ATHENS — Georgia freshman quarterback D’Wan Mathis’ condition has been upgraded, and he will be moved from ICU to a regular room on Saturday, according to his family. Doctors expect Mathis to be released from the hospital within a week with no further complications after having a cyst removed from the outside of his brain in an emergency surgical procedure on Thursday. RELATED: Georgia freshman QB undergoes emergency surgery Terence Mathis said his son, a 6-foot-5, 210-pound early enrollee at Georgia, underwent a minor follow up on Friday. “All the stars lined up for us in the sense that D’Wan was at the right place at the right time with the best specialists in the world,” Terence Mathis said. “To have men like Coach (Kirby) Smart and Coach (James) Coley at his side through all of this along with the medical staff at UGA, was paramount.” Terence Mathis said he couldn’t have asked for any better treatment for his son and family throughout this trying time. “For the University of Georgia to   get my family down there at D’Wan’s said expeditiously was tremendous, words can’t express my gratitude,” Terence Mathis said. D’Wan’s mother, aunt and stepmother were at the UGA quarterback’s side Thursday afternoon, shortly after he was admitted to the hospital. Georgia football teammates have sent D’Wan flowers and cards, helping to keep his spirits up. RELATED: Social media tips off Mathis that Ohio State recruiting Justin Fields “His teammates have all been very supportive,” Terence Mathis said. “The outpouring of love and support from DawgNation and fans from all over the country has been amazing. “We obviously are so fortunate for the exceptional medical team at Piedmont Hospital. We are blessed and appreciate all of the prayers.” D’Wan Mathis returned to Athens on May 13 after spending two weeks back in his hometown of Romulus, Michigan, at the conclusion of the spring semester. The severe climate change— roughly 40 degrees difference — escalated his sinus pressure, leading to severe pain and headaches. D’Wan Mathis sought out the UGA medical staff, which in turn brought him to the emergency room where an MRI revealed the cyst. The Mathis family is optimistic their son’s football career can continue soon. The post Georgia freshman QB D’Wan Mathis’ condition upgraded after emergency brain cyst surgery appeared first on DawgNation.
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  Greg McGarity has tough decisions to make on some of Georgia coaches

  ST. SIMONS ISLAND — This is the time of year that Georgia Athletic Director Greg McGarity starts to have his postseason meetings with the Bulldogs’ spring sports coaches. Two of those conversations promise to be quite difficult, and for different reasons. McGarity will meet with women’s tennis coach Jeff Wallace upon his return from Orlando and the NCAA Tennis Championships this weekend. The No. 2-ranked Bulldogs made quite a run there as a team, reaching the finals before falling to perennial powerhouse Stanford 4-0 in the championship match. It was only the second loss of the season for Georgia (28-2), which went undefeated in winning the SEC regular-season title and also won the National Indoor championship in 2019. As it turns out, it’s a significant year for Wallace. The 59-year-old coach, who has been coaching women’s tennis at Georgia, has been working the last three seasons without a contract. McGarity would like to change that. “Sure we would,” McGarity said. “Jeff’s still competing, so we’ll talk when he gets back. … We’ll certainly talk about an extension. He’s done a great job. He’s got everyone coming back from this year’s team and I know he’s really excited. We’re looking forward to that. Jeff had a great this year.” Wallace has had a lot of great years. The four-time National Coach of the year has led the Bulldogs to six national titles, two outdoor and four indoor, including this year’s national indoor title. Georgia has also won 14 SEC titles (8 regular season, 6 tournaments), been to every NCAA tournament and reached at least the Final Four 12 times. Of course, McGarity knows that. After all, he was once the women’s tennis coach at Georgia. Yet, despite that long history of success, Wallace is not among the higher-paid coaches in his sport. His salary of $185,000 annually (not including camp income) is well below Florida’s Roland Thornqvist ($246,000), who’s has a comparable resume. Most of the top coaches in women’s tennis make more than $200,000. Wallace even makes less than Mark Beyers of Ole Miss ($190,000). Wallace also makes nearly $100,000 a year less than Georgia men’s tennis coach Manual Diaz. Diaz has a similar resume to Wallace, with four outdoor national titles and two indoor, but has had more sustained success within the conference (28 championships). Georgia is preparing to undergo an Title IX review, so such a difference could come up. Wallace declined comment Friday. He remains in Orlando with Katarina Jokic, who was to compete in the NCAA single semifinals Friday night. McGarity’s probably not as excited about his exit interview with women’s golf coach Josh Brewer. Brewer hasn’t done awful in his seven years at the helm of Georgia’s program, but he hasn’t been able to sustain what had been a long history of sustained success in that sport. Under Brewer, the Bulldogs have not won an SEC title or advanced to the NCAA championships. Previously, Georgia’s women have won an SEC-best 19 titles, including 11 team crowns. The program has also produced four individual national championships and won one national team title (2001). “We haven’t sat down yet,” McGarity said of Brewer. “Chris Haack serves as our director of golf and I haven’t talked to him on that. But we’ll talk about those things when the season concludes.” Football, basketball, baseball and gymnastics are the most popular sports at UGA and draw the most fan support. But McGarity said he gives all 21 of Georgia’s sports programs equal thought and consideration. He said he meets monthly with each one of them in their offices. The stated goal is for the Bulldogs to finish among nation’s Top 10 teams in the Learfield Directors’ Cup standings for all-sports excellence. That’s probably not going to happen this year. Georgia is currently 35th, seventh among SEC teams. But its expected to surge with tennis, golf, baseball and track and field still to complete their seasons. “It won’t be Top 10,” McGarity said. “That’s our goal every year, but this year it’s probably out of reach. We’ve had some oddities on a national scale. I don’t want to name sports, but some that have traditionally been in the Top 10 aren’t. Across the board, that measurement is lagging a bit, but we expect a surge at the end.” Georgia has two other sports that have traditionally slowed it down when it comes to national all-sports prominence. Soccer, now under the direction of fifth-year coach Billy Lesesne, remains a mystery as far becoming competitive in the SEC and nationally, which it currently is not. And Tom Black has made strides with Georgia’s women’s volleyball program in two short years, though it also is not nationally competitive. But McGarity has made it clear that making it into NCAA postseason play is the Georgia standard. The Bulldogs are doing a good job of that in most sports. That includes football, of course. The post Greg McGarity has tough decisions to make on some of Georgia coaches appeared first on DawgNation.
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  Georgia football podcast: Kirby Smart addresses getting over ‘hump’ vs. Alabama, Clemson

  Georgia football is the No. 1 topic every day on DawgNation Daily — the daily podcast for Georgia Bulldogs fans. Catch up on everything happening with UGA athletics with host Brandon Adams and the DawgNation experts as they break down the latest Georgia football recruiting news and discuss coach Kirby Smart’s quest to return the Bulldogs to the top of the SEC. On episode No. 953 (May 24, 2019) of the podcast, Georgia fans can hear a discussion about what UGA coach Kirby Smart said about what the Bulldogs need to get over the so-called “hump” vs. Alabama and Clemson. Georgia football podcast: Kirby Smart addresses getting over ‘hump’ vs. Alabama, Clemson Beginning of the show: Georgia coach Kirby Smart met with reporters this week in Macon, Ga. before a fan event. One of the topics that came up is what UGA still needs to overtake Alabama and the reigning national champion, Clemson. I’ll share audio of Smart’s comments on today’s show and discuss three areas that could make the difference for the Bulldogs. 10-minute mark: I discuss UGA quarterback D’wan Mathis’ brain surgery to remove a cyst. 15-minute mark: DawgNation’s recruiting insider Jeff Sentell joins the show. Some of the topics covered include… Jeff’s thoughts on Mathis The latest on 5-star cornerback KeleeRingo An update on 5-star running back Kendall Milton The latest on UGA’s tight end recruiting — including where things stand with 5-star Darnell Washington and 4-star Theo Johnson And reaction to UGA’s inclusion in 4-star center Sedrick Van Pran’s top eight 40-minute mark: I take a look at other SEC headlines including former Ole Miss athletic director Ross Bjork taking the same job at Texas A&M, Alabama scheduling a two-for-one series with South Florida, the saga of LSU defensive back Kelvin Joseph’s potential transfer takes another twist and I’ll discuss a fun debate about whether UGA could beat a so-called all-star team made up of top players from the other SEC East teams. End of show: I preview the upcoming weekend for UGA athletics, share the Summer Q&A and the Gator Hater Updater. The post Georgia football podcast: Kirby Smart addresses getting over ‘hump’ vs. Alabama, Clemson appeared first on DawgNation.