Everything about the Georgia Bulldogs screams power.  From an incredibly dangerous lineup, led by Golden Spikes candidate, and possibly the front-runner for the award, Rich Poythress, to an impressive pitching staff, both among the starters and the relievers, the Bulldogs are poised to make a deep run towards Omaha this year.

Let’s start with the offense, who coming off of a weekend sweep of the Kentucky Wildcats are collectively hitting .320/.410/.548.  Poythress is among the national leaders in nearly every significant run producing category, with his 60 RBI being the best nationally.  A powerful, barrel-chested athlete, he has excellent power to right center-field, and physically resembles former big-leaguer John Jaha.  His size and strength limits his range of motion, meaning he will probably always be stuck at first base, despite playing third in the past.  If he keeps slugging the way he has where he plays won’t be an issue.

Bryce Massanari and Joey Lewis are splitting time between catching and the designated hitter spot batting behind Poythress in the Bulldogs’ lineup, and they are offering plenty of protection (as Poythress did for Gordon Beckham a year ago) with 11 and 12 home runs respectively, currently hitting just above, and below, .350.  Third baseman Colby May is also swinging a hot stick at .375 with nine homers, and these three along with Poythress give the team a very lethal middle of the lineup three through six.

Johnathan Taylor offers speed in a part-time role, having swiped 18 bags in 22 attempts.  Levi Hyams has been rock solid at shortstop defensively taking over for the departed Beckham, while junior Michael Demperio and freshman Chase Davidson have been productive in complementary roles.

The starters are fronted by senior Trevor Holder, who brings valuable experience and rock steady production on Fridays.  Skyscraper lefty Alex McRee is 4-0 assuming the Saturday role while sophomore Justin Grimm has settled in nicely anchoring the weekend rotation.  The three collectively are 12-3 with a 3.71 ERA.

Power arms highlight the bullpen.  Dean Weaver has done a very nice job picking up where Joshua Fields left off.  Weaver currently has seven saves and a miniscule 0.79 ERA.  He isn’t as dynamic as Fields was, but he clearly is getting the job done.

Freshman Michael Palazzone has started his college career coming out of the bullpen and has responded very well.  He has controlled the strike zone very well and is starting to find his groove.  Jeff Walters offers a power fastball and can go an inning or two to help bridge the starters to Weaver and Palazzone, while Justin Earls adds balance to give Head Coach Dave Perno a live-armed lefty option.

And this is a team that moving past the 2009 season, with the expected losses of some of their most productive players, should continue to be a national force.  Grimm, Palazzone and freshman Cecil Tanner should anchor the pitching staff while talented freshmen hitters such as Davidson and Zach Cone are expected to help carry this team offensively in the years to come.

Georgia currently leads the Eastern Division in the SEC with a 11-4 conference record (29-6 overall).  They are second in the conference in hitting (Alabama) and first in ERA.  Their achilles heel may be their defense, as they are second to last in the conference in fielding percentage, so they need to make sure they are making the plays they need to during the second half of the season.

That second half of the season offers some tough match-ups in the always strong SEC.  They do play Arkansas, Florida and Vanderbilt at home, but have to travel to Ole Miss and South Carolina.  Having already played the Western Division leading LSU Tigers, the Bulldogs look to enjoy a strong finish leading up to what could turn out to be a very exciting SEC tournament coming late May.