This article was originally published with The Red & Black on June 2, 2015 and can be found here.

Georgia second baseman Alex Hugo’s bat propelled the junior to become an All-American in 2015. What is often overlooked is how her power led to walks that did even more good for the Bulldogs.

Hugo led Georgia this season in a number of offensive categories including home runs, triples and RBI. The Olathe, Kansas native’s powerful plate tactics led several opponents to intentionally walk her, leaving Hugo with 11 intentional walks as part of her team-high 39 walks in 2015.

While taking the bat out of her hands doesn’t always sit well with Hugo, the chance for other Georgia players to come through while she’s on base eases her tensions.

“Sometimes it can be frustrating,” Hugo said. “A lot of the time I know that it’s just giving us another baserunner and gives my teammates behind me [in the batting order] a chance to hit me in.”

If there was any doubt that giving Hugo a free 60 foot stroll was the way to go, she dismissed such notions during the Athens Regional.  It started against Central Connecticut State on May 15.

After walking in the first inning and delivering a sacrifice fly in the third, Hugo took her third at-bat to open the sixth inning. Blue Devils pitcher Laura Messina, had the option to walk Hugo and deal with one runner on base with no outs in a 1-1 contest.  Messina and Central Connecticut State head coach Breanne Gleason guessed that they could keep Hugo within the confines of Jack Turner Stadium.

Messina and Gleason were wrong.

Hugo hit a solo home run that stood as the first of five runs in a game-changing inning for the Bulldogs. It was the kind of performance that Georgia starting pitcher Chelsea Wilkinson, who picked up her 26^th victory in the 6-1 win, is accustomed to seeing out of her fellow junior.

“When they do pitch to Alex, we’re all saying, ‘What are you doing?’” Wilkinson said. “Alex is such a great hitter and we’re lucky to have her in our lineup. She’s going to come through most of the time for us with either a hit or a home run.”

Hugo inflicted her damage again on May 16 against North Carolina. With the game gridlocked 5-5, Hugo brushed off a pair of intentional walks early in the game to deliver a different walk altogether in the seventh inning. She opened the inning with a home run, this one being a walk-off that helped the Bulldogs overcome a loss earlier in the day in which she walked three times.

“Sometimes it can put a little bit of pressure on you,” Hugo said of early-game walks. “I’ve learned just to take every at-bat the same. I go through it with the same mindset every time and see what I can do with my at-bat.”

The wild three days for Georgia left Hugo with quite the stat line: five hits, two home runs, four RBI and eight walks.

Those numbers don’t catch hitting coach Tony Baldwin by surprise.

“She has to play her role in the offense and she does an exceptional job of it,” Baldwin said. “The old saying goes, ‘If you want to be a good hitting coach, recruit good hitters.’ She makes every hitting coach look pretty good.”

Hugo’s walks could have put Georgia in some tough spots offensively, but the players behind Hugo in the batting order did their part to make opponents pay.

The first game against Western Kentucky on May 17 saw Hilltoppers pitcher Miranda Kramer walk Hugo with no outs in a 1-0 game. Georgia did not struggle with the bat being taken out of the hand of its best hitter; instead, designated player Kaylee Puailoa came through with a two-out double to bring Hugo home. Puailoa’s hit led to an eight-run inning for the Bulldogs in what proved to be a five-inning 12-3 win for Georgia.

Hugo’s preference was being in the batter’s box awaiting the right pitch to send over the wall. That being said, she was content with taking four balls and working towards scoring another run for Georgia. That attitude is what Baldwin believes makes Hugo such an excellent collegiate player.

“Your willingness to take a walk shows your trust in your teammates,” Baldwin said. “All the girls on the team would tell you she has a lot of confidence in herself and is as equally confident in her teammates.”