Daniel Jackson continues amazing start
Daniel Jackson is making head coach Wes Johnson seem psychic.
Before the season began, Johnson unapologetically predicted that his junior would push for 20-plus homers with 20-plus steals.
He’s well on his way.
On Sunday, Jackson blasted his nation-best 13th and 14th home runs, powering the Bulldogs (15-3) past Queens on Sunday, 14-3.
He did in style, ending the game in the bottom of the seventh with a grand slam.
In 18 games, the Georgia catcher is hitting .421 with his 14 home runs and 33 RBI. For those counting, Johnson also stole a base on Sunday. He’s now 10-for-10 on the year after going 12-for-12 in 2025.
“Everybody’s killing it,” shortstop Kolby Branch said. “You look at the scoreboard, just homer after homer, a ton of RBIs, moving the ball around. Doing a good job of that right now.”
As Branch indicated, Jackson wasn’t the only Bulldog hitting homers.
Henry Allen hit No. 7, Brennan Hudson No. 10, and Branch No. 8 for Georgia, which homered 18 times over the five games with Queens. Branch accounted for four of the home runs by himself. The Bulldogs lead the nation with 61 home runs heading into SEC play on Friday against Tennessee.
“I really like where we’re at. That’s why I scheduled it that way. You want to find out a lot about your team. I think we have,” Johnson said. “I think we know what most of the pieces are that we need to put in place. Not only at the mound, but at the plate. Defensively, I really think we’ve got a lot of options there as well. You’re as ready as you can get going into conference play.”
Jackson got Georgia going with a 2-run homer in the first, before Queens tied the game in the top of the second.
But not for long. In the bottom half of the inning, an RBI single by Tre Phelps gave the Bulldogs the lead back. Solo homers by Hudson and Branch in the bottom of the fourth extended the lead to 5-2.
Allen’s three-run shot in the sixth then set the stage for Georgia’s six-run seventh, capped by Jackson’s slam.
Matt Scott (2-0), the first of six pitchers, received the win for Georgia. The right-hander allowed two runs in two innings before Caleb Jameson, Brad Pruett, Zach Brown, Dylan Wood, and Paul Farley finished out the game.
Georgia returns to action on Friday when the Bulldogs kick off SEC play at Foley Field against Tennessee.
“You’ve got to take it one day at a time,” Branch said. “Take your rest days. It’s been a long — I don’t know how long — 14 days, but we’ve played a ton.”
NOTE: Johnson said after the game that he was ready to use Kenny Ishikawa (foot) in Sunday’s finale but decide agaisnt it due to the rain.
According to Johnson, Ishikawa threw a simulated game on Sunday morning. He expects to have Ishikawa available in some capacity this weekend against the Vols.
“We had Kenny scheduled to pitch an inning (Sunday),” Johnson said. “But obviously, with the weather and the rain, I didn’t want to test it. So, I pushed him this morning, and he ran a full simulated game bullpen. He’ll be ready this weekend.”