The Georgia baseball team proved once again why it is the top ranked team in the country on Friday night.

The Diamond Dawgs (30-7, 12-4 SEC) rallied in the ninth inning to defeat fifth-ranked Arkansas 4-3 behind a walk-off base hit from outfielder Matt Cerione.

Tied at three heading into the home half of the ninth inning, Georgia brought in speedy pinch-hitter Johnathan Taylor, who drew a leadoff walk. Taylor advanced into scoring position on an error from Arkansas catcher Ryan Cisterna.

With runners on first and second and one out, the Razorbacks brought in hard-throwing lefty Stephen Richards.

Richards would face only one batter.

Cerione laced an 0-1 slider from Richards to the gap in the left centerfield to drive home Taylor sending home the sellout crowd at Foley Field.

“I just knew to try to stay on my legs and look the opposite field,” Cerione said. “The first one I got a little out in front. I knew he was coming back with it, and I just waited back, stayed on my legs, and tried to shoot it opposite field. And, that’s what I did.”

Junior starter Trevor Holder was shaky in the first inning for the top-ranked Diamond Dawgs as he got behind in the count to Razorback second baseman Ben Tschepikow, who drilled a fastball to deep center, to give the Razorbacks an 1-0 lead.

Designated hitter Bryce Massanari blasted his 12th home run of the season, a three-run shot that towered over the left field wall, in the bottom half of the first stanza to give Georgia a 3-1 advantage.

The two-run cushion coupled with sharp command of his fastball eventually led Holder to regain his dominant form in what his head coach, David Perno, called “his best outing in league play so far.”

“That first inning, you give a guy a 3-1 fastball right down the middle, they’re supposed to hit it out,” Holder said. “I was kind of mad at myself for getting in that count, but I settled down. Those guys played great defense behind me. You don’t set down 10 guys in a row by yourself.”

“I thought that swing of the bat from Massanari really gave Trevor a lift,” head coach David Perno said. “When we answered their home run with a three-run homer, I told Trevor just execute now and pitch. That’s probably the best thing about the night we played great defense and walked one guy.”

But, the lead didn’t last forever.

Up 3-2 with runners on first and second and two out in the seventh, Perno pulled Holder in favor of right-handed reliever Will Harvil, who came in to face Arkansas’ Tim Carver. Carver found a hole in between first and second to single home Andy Wilkins to tie the game at three.

“[My mindset was to] just go right at the guy. Don’t give him any chances to hit something. He hit a great pitch. I threw it about a foot outside,” Harvil said. “He hit it. I felt terrible because that was Trevor’s win and he pitched awesome.”

But, much like Holder, Harvil would settle down after giving up the game-tying base hit striking out three of the next four batters.

“Will was great, and I know he was upset,” Perno said. “The thing that was impressive about it he was down because he gave up that run. But, he had to come in and go two scoreless after that. He’s been great for us all year.”

In the ninth inning, Harvil ran into some trouble as he allowed a two-out base hit to Zack Cox. After pinch-runner Jarrod McKinney stole second, Collin Kuhn hit a sharp grounder to short that Levi Hyams was unable to field properly. McKinney, who was running on the play, rounded third and attempted to score what would have been the go-ahead run. But, Hyams made a near perfect throw to catcher Joey Lewis, who tagged out McKinney at the plate for the third out of the inning.

Said Cerione: “It’s a big [win]. Obviously every win is huge especially in the SEC, but especially when we’re only a half game up. This helps us because it gives us a little boost into first place. But also, it gives us a little edge in the series. We won the first one and that’s the biggest one.

Game two of the series takes place at 1 pm Saturday.