Corey Collins froze the Foley Field crowd on Tuesday night, the fans memorized by the two-run home run Collins blasted high and deep over the right-field fence.
Collins’ first-inning homer extended his hitting streak to a team-high 10 game and served as a sign of things to come in No. 21-ranked Georgia’s 8-7 win over Clemson.
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“He is a force to be reckoned with,” UGA head coach Scott Stricklin said. “There’s no question about it. He is a scary hitter to face because he can hit it [far].”
Trackman data shows Collins’ blast had an exit velocity of 105 MPH off the bat and traveled an estimated 441 feet. The home run sailed 127 feet clear of the fence, screaming toward cars parked at the well-known green house that sits atop “Kudzu Hill” before bouncing off a tree.
The 6-foot-3, 234-pound Collins has settled into the three-hole in Stricklin’s lineup card, hitting .308 with seven home runs and 29 RBIs.
Over the course of Collins’ streak, Georgia has won two SEC conference series in addition to beating Clemson for a sixth time in a row in that series.
UGA ranked last in the SEC offensive production before heading to Vanderbilt to take on the then-No. 1-ranked Commodores eight games ago, mustering just 5.1 runs per game.
But since the start of that series, which Georgia opened with a 14-2 win, the Bulldogs have scored 8.6 runs per game.
The Bulldogs’ .285 team batting average is currently tied for fifth conference-wide, propelled by Collins’ .564 slugging percentage.
Collins made his collegiate debut behind the plate in the 10-7 victory over Georgia State on April 13.
“He’s swinging it better now that he’s been playing more regularly defensively,” Stricklin said. “I think that has something to do with it, when you’re in the game and you get a sweat going and you get adrenaline going.”
A freshman out of North Gwinnett High School in Suwanee, Georgia, Collins hit .483 with 16 home runs in his junior campaign before his senior season was canceled due to COVID-19.
Despite not receiving in-game action at catcher for the better part of a year and a half, Collins has been lauded for his efforts as a sound defensive backstop.
“It felt really good to get back there,” Collins said after his first start behind the plate on April 13. “Working with Luke [Wagner], I’ve worked with him multiple times. It was like we were together on the same page, so it felt really good to be back there.”
Collins was ranked as high as No. 65 among the Top 200 professional prospects for the 2020 MLB Draft by MLB.com. His stock, like his home run shots, is again soaring.
Georgia (24-12, 7-8 SEC) opens a three-game series at Missouri at 7:30 p.m. on Friday
