College baseball notebook: Beat goes on for Georgia offense with Zaborowski and Burnett leading way (2025)

By: Eric Olson, The Associated PressPosted: 8:44 AM CDT Monday, Mar. 31, 2025Last Modified: 6:05 PM CDT Monday, Mar. 31, 2025

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Ryland Zaborowski and Robbie Burnett have eased the minds of Georgia fans who may have worried that offensive production would drop off with the departures of Charlie Condon and Corey Collins.

Zaborowski and Burnett lead a high-scoring Bulldogs team that’s out to a program-record 28-2 start. Georgia’s weekend home sweep of Auburn extended its win streak to eight games, longest in the nation.

Georgia, which also took three at Florida from March 21-23, for the first time since 2008 swept back-to-back Southeastern Conference opponents that were ranked in the top 10 at the time. The Bulldogs are tied with Tennessee for first in the SEC at 8-1.

Zaborowski, who transferred from Miami (Ohio), leads the nation with 14 homers and a 1.120 slugging percentage and is second with 48 RBIs and fifth with a .442 batting average. He’s just behind the torrid pace set last year by Condon, who finished with 37 homers and was taken No. 3 overall by Colorado in the Major League Baseball amateur draft.

Burnett, who transferred from UNC Ashville, is second with 13 homers, and he has a .363 batting average to go with 27 walks and .570 on-base percentage. Those numbers are on track to match those of Collins, who was a sixth-round pick by the Mets.

Georgia leads the nation with 79 homers and is third in scoring at 10.4 runs per game. Last year, the Bulldogs were second to Tennessee in homers, with 151, and scored 9.1 runs per game while going 43-17 and finishing one win away from the College World Series.

In the polls

Tennessee (26-2) and Arkansas (26-3) are the top two teams in the D1Baseball.com and Baseball America rankings. The Volunteers went 4-0 last week with a road sweep of South Carolina. Arkansas lost a midweek game against Missouri State and then swept Vanderbilt on the road.

D1Baseball has Georgia third; Baseball America has Texas (23-3) No. 3. The Longhorns were 4-0 with a road sweep of Missouri.

Jayhawks flying high

Kansas (23-6) swept Oklahoma State for the first time since 2009. The Jayhawks’ 6-3 start in Big 12 play is their best ever. The Big 12’s first season was 1997.

The Jayhawks have hit 61 homers, just 14 short of the program record of 75 in 2006 and 2023. Reliever Gavin Brasosky has not allowed a run in his eight appearances (10 1/3 innings).

Buckeyes raise eyebrows

Ohio State delivered one of the weekend’s most surprising results, winning two of three against a top-10 Oregon team that was making its first road trip as a Big Ten member.

The Buckeyes (8-16) had lost their first seven games in conference play before they swept the Ducks 11-10 and 8-6 on Saturday. Ohio State erased a pair of four-run deficits to win the opener, and Tyler Pettorini’s three-run homer highlighted the nightcap.

The Ducks (20-7, 8-4) had won Big Ten series against Southern California, Minnesota and Rutgers before visiting Columbus, where Justin Haire is in his first season.

Comeback Cavs

Atlantic Coast Conference favorite Virginia hopes to carry over the momentum from its home sweep of Stanford. The Cavaliers entered the series just 12-11 overall and 3-6 in conference play. A week ago they were swept at home by Duke.

The Cavaliers were down to their final our in the bottom of the 10th inning Saturday when James Nunnallee scored from first base on Aidan Teel’s double to right, producing a 9-8 win that was their third comeback victory of the series and 10th of the season.

Cleanup spot

Bowling Green’s Connar Penrod recorded a save in all three games against Central Michigan and already has a nation-leading eight, tied for the school single-season record. … Arkansas won a series at Vanderbilt for the first time since 2010. Cam Kozeal, who transferred from Vanderbilt, homered three times against his former team. … Oregon State set a school record with eight home runs in a 16-5 win at Nebraska on Saturday. That was the Beavers’ only win in the three-game series. … Notre Dame homered seven times Friday in a 16-9 home win over Florida State. It was the Seminoles’ most lopsided loss since they were beaten 16-4 in the ACC Tournament championship game last year. The Seminoles won the next two against Notre Dame. … Arizona State’s sweep at Utah marked the Sun Devils’ third straight Big 12 series win and fourth in a row in a road series since last year.

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