Diamond Dogs to open play in SEC tournament

Seventh-ranked Georgia opens the SEC Tournament Wednesday at 10:30 am ET versus 13th-ranked Texas A&M at the Hoover Met.   The Bulldogs (42-14), under the direction of Ike Cousins head coach Scott Stricklin, posted the second best record in conference action at 21-9 and garnered the No. 3 seed. The top two seeds go to the division winners in Vanderbilt and Arkansas. The No. 6 seed Aggies (37-19-1) defeated No. 11 seed Florida 8-7 in 10 innings to open the tournament Tuesday. Georgia did not face the Aggies during the regular season. Wednesday’s game will be televised by the SEC Network and be available on the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network. Dave Neal (play-by-play), Chris Burke (color), Ben McDonald (color) and Mike Rooney (field) will be handling the call for the SEC Network.    Georgia has registered its best record in the regular season since the 1990 National Champions went 44-15. Georgia’s 42 wins is the most in a regular season featuring a 56-game schedule and trails only the 1990 club played a 60-game regular season slate. Georgia is batting .275 with a 3.17 ERA and fielding .981.   The Bulldogs are making their 24thall-time appearance in the SEC Tournament. Georgia’s record in the SEC Tournament is 28-45. The Bulldogs are 0-1 versus the Aggies in the SEC Tournament. Last year, No. 18 Texas A&M defeated No. 8 Georgia 7-0 at the SEC Tournament.    On Wednesday, the Bulldogs will start junior right-hander Tim Elliott (6-3, 2.93 ERA) who moved into the SEC rotation for three of the past four SEC weekends, going 1-1 with a 4.26 ERA. He has been named to the Google Cloud Academic All-District Team as selected by CoSIDA. Elliott, a Dean’s List student, carries a 3.57 GPA as a Finance major. With the final SEC series moved up to Thursday last week, Elliott did not see action against Alabama. In his last start, he did not factor in the decision after going five innings at Auburn and allowed four earned runs on four hits with two walks and three strikeouts. The Aggies have not announced a starter.   Georgia’s offensive leaders this season include junior Alll-SEC senior 2B LJ Talley (.346-8-40), 3B/Closer Aaron Schunk (.343-11-44; 1-2, 2.53 ERA, 11 SV), graduate DH John Cable (.316-7-45) and redshirt sophomore OF Riley King (.307-8-42). Schunk is a semifinalist for the John Olerud Award given to the nation’s top two-way player by the College Baseball Foundation. Schunk (12 games) and Talley (10 games) enter the SEC Tournament with double-digit hitting streaks. In the past 11 games, junior SS Cam Shepherd (.232-6-30) has seen his bat come alive as he’s smashed five home runs with 13 RBI. Georgia batted .402 (47-for-117) in the sweep of Alabama to close out the regular season plus posted a 2.33 ERA and was perfect in the field. Cable hit .600 with seven RBI in the series while junior 1B Patrick Sullivan batted .636 (7-for-11) with a home run and four RBI and Schunk hit a pair of home runs and drove in seven.   Stellar defense has been one constant for the Bulldogs as they are on pace to set a Fielding Percentage school record for the second year in a row. Currently, Georgia is fielding .981. Last year, the Bulldogs established the fielding mark at .979. Georgia has been even sharper in league action as it owns an SEC-best .986 Fielding Percentage.    On Monday, Georgia had five players earn All-SEC recognition. Sophomore pitcher Emerson Hancock was named First Team All-SEC, Talley and Schunk made Second Team All-SEC, pitcher Cole Wilcox was part of the Freshman All-SEC squad plus Talley and Shepherd headlined the SEC All-Defensive Team.   Television/Radio at SEC Tournament TV:Wednesday vs. Texas A&M @ 10:30 am ET (SEC Network); Link: http://www.gado.gs/2qr Radio: Georgia Bulldog Sports Network from IMG College (David Johnston & Jeff Dantzler);  Stations: 960 AM-WRFC and selected affiliates (check your local listings), also via the Georgia Bulldogs app and TuneIn app. And SirusXM on ESPNU Radio, Channel 84 and SiriusXM SEC Radio, Channel 374 Additional Coverage on Twitter:@BaseballUGA   Follow the Dawgs For the latest on Georgia Baseball, follow the team on Twitter (@baseballUGA), Instagram (@baseballuga) and Facebook (GeorgiaBaseball). 

Commissioners meet for sales tax talk

Athens-Clarke County Commissioners meet tonight: the list of projects that could be funded with passage of a November sales tax referendum is on the agenda for the 6 o’clock session at City Hall. There’s also talk about changes in parking on East Broad Street.    Oconee County Commissioners meet this afternoon: they’ll hold a public hearing on the County budget at 5:30 at the courthouse in Watkinsville.   The Board of Directors for the Morton Theatre Corporation is meeting this evening in Athens. It’s a 6:30 meeting at the Morton on Washington Street.   Hartwell is getting a new City Manager: assistant manager Jon Herschell has been chosen as a replacement for retiring Hartwell City Manager David Aldrich, who says he is retiring at the end of next month.  There is an afternoon meeting of the Gainesville City Council: it is a 5:30 session at the Public Safety Complex in Gainesville.   There is traffic talk in Gwinnett County, where the Georgia DOT held a Monday hearing on plans for an upgrade at the intersection of Highways 124 and 78 in Snellville.

Update: bodies found in Barrow Co home identified

Authorities are investigating after two people were found dead Monday afternoon at a home in Barrow County. Channel 2 Action News has learned a grandson found his grandparents dead inside the home on South Ridge Road and called police.  'I don't know what to think, it's just sad. It's really sad,' neighbor Eddie Turner said. Neighbors watched from inside their homes as investigators worked late into the night. Investigators from the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office and Georgia Bureau of Investigation have interviewed multiple relatives and spoken with neighbors such as Turner. “He just asked me if I saw any suspicious activity out here last night. And I said, ‘No, I hadn't really been outside. Didn't hear anything. No,’” Turner said. Right now, investigators are focused on two homes in the cul de sac: The first one is where the grandson made the disturbing discovery. Neighbors told Channel 2’s Michael Seiden that the second home wrapped in crime tape belongs to a relative. Detectives won’t say if foul play is involved in the couple's death. News Chopper 2 flew above the scene early Monday evening, where investigators were speaking with a group of family members right before they entered the home. From the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page... On May 20, 2019 at 9:25 am deputies with the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to 430 Southridge Road, Winder, GA 30680 in reference to both residents being found deceased. An adult family member located Willard Ron Hess, 70 and Dorothy E Hess, 72 inside of the residence and notified the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office. The Criminal Investigations Division arrived on scene and processed the residence at 430 Southridge Road along with the residence across the street which belongs to the family member who located the deceased. The family member’s residence was processed as a precautionary measure because it was believed there were two scenes involved. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation assisted with the processing of the scene. The cause of death is unknown at this time. Both of the deceased have been taken to the GBI crime lab for an autops