Diamond Dawgs end on sour note

The Diamond Dawgs were left out of the NCAA baseball tournament as the selection committee announced its 64-team field Monday. Georgia (31-26, 14-15) ended the season with four straight losses, including two in a row that eliminated them from the SEC tournament.

In the tournament, Vanderbilt gave Georgia its first loss of the event with a 4-1 defeat. The Commodores went on to the final, where they lost to Mississippi State. Coach David Perno’s team managed just six hits against two Vandy pitchers.

In the Bulldogs’ second game of the tourney, Auburn eliminated Perno’s club 3-2 in yet another frustratingly close loss. Georgia fell behind 3-0 early, then scored twice in the eighth to remain close. Conor Welton and Nelson Ward each had RBIs for the Bulldogs.

“I’m encouraged with what we have coming back, and we’ll see how many veterans return after the draft,” Perno said. “I think we’ll have a good nucleus, and we’ll need to find a way to get the most out of what we got and hopefully have no setbacks.”

Georgia had four baseball players honored by the SEC Tuesday, as Alex Wood, Curt Powell, Hunter Cole and Kevin Ruiz received awards. Powell and Wood each made the All- SEC second team, Cole made the All-Freshman team and Ruiz was named to the Community Service squad.

SOFTBALL FINISHED …

The Georgia softball team fell in three games to No. 7 Tennessee in Knoxville over the weekend.

The Bulldogs dropped Game 1 3-2, putting themselves in a deep hole to make up on the road against a quality team. Georgia found itself down 3-0 after four innings, but rallied late to close the deficit to just one run. Christine Olney and Niaja Griffin each had RBIs for the Bulldogs. Erin Arevalo threw all six innings, giving up three runs on six hits.

Arevalo was the star of Game 2, as the senior from Lathrop, Calif., gave up just two hits in tossing a shut out. Georgia got the only run it would need in the third inning when Macie Couey scored from third after a Volunteer error.

The rubber game was another tightly-contested affair as the Bulldogs took a 1-0 lead in the fifth inning when Gracie Goulder scored on a wild pitch. But the hosts would score two runs in the six and hold on for the win. Tennessee advanced to the Women’s College World Series.