University of Georgia Athletics
Offense Slams In Opener
February 16, 2018 | Baseball, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
It is, of course, only one game. A single game in a long, long season that the Georgia baseball team hopes will stretch into summer.
Yes, it's one game, but Friday night at Foley Field was also the Bulldogs' season opener. And for a while there, it was not a grand one. But the troubles didn't last.
Facing a fired up Georgia Southern squad, which brought with it a large, spirited crowd for the in-state matchup this weekend, the Bulldogs got behind 4-0 in the third inning and 7-2 in the top of the fifth.
Then came 15 unanswered runs over three innings. Yep, 15. Final score: Georgia 22, Georgia Southern 9.
"From the fifth inning on, that was a lot of fun to watch," Ike Cousins head coach Scott Stricklin said.
In a game loaded with offense — 19 Bulldog hits to go along with those 22 runs — one moment stood apart from the rest, even though Georgia had the game mostly in hand by then.
Leading 11-7, after avoiding damage in the top of the seventh despite committing a pair of errors behind reliever Tony Locey who pitched 2.0 great innings, the Bulldogs had runners on first and third with one away.
A red-hot Cam Shepherd came to the plate with smoke practically coming off of him, having gone 4-for-4 with three runs batted in to that point. Georgia Southern opted to walk Shepherd, loading the bases with one out and the game on the brink of getting really out of hand, and pitch to Michael Curry.
If you need a reminder, Curry is Georgia's All-SEC designated hitter, and he was 2-for-4 in the opener to that point.
For Shepherd, the sophomore shortstop who hit .307 as a freshman starter, getting walked to load the bases for Curry was quite the compliment. It was also quite the surprise.
"I don't even know if that's ever happened to me before, honestly," Shepherd said.
So what did Curry do? He had a highlight moment, of course, mashing a Zach Coward pitch over the fence in right-center field for a grand slam — doing so despite the muggy conditions and light rain that was coming down that inning.
"That was awesome," Shepherd said.
As memorable moments go in a very productive Georgia career for the junior Curry, that one was pretty darn good.
"That was different for me," Curry said. "I definitely went to the plate with a chip on my shoulder, for sure. I was excited for that opportunity and made the best of it."
The homer came on the fourth pitch of the at-bat and Curry said he'd seen the pitcher's fastball and two breaking balls at that point, so he felt good about his chances.
"It was definitely fun, a pretty cool experience," he said.
Also a cool experience, rallying from a big deficit and being confident all along that it was going to happen. Both Shepherd and Curry said the guys in the dugout were positive throughout and always believed that they'd turn things around — something that didn't happen as much last season.
"This team, there's something different going on in the dugout," Curry said. "We were calm the whole time; losing was never in our mind. I thought that was pretty awesome. I felt it, we all felt it, so it was really cool to feel that."
Said Stricklin: "The thing I think I can take from that is that we just didn't stop fighting."
Georgia isn't going to put up 22 runs and 19 hits every game, but the Bulldogs hit the ball well in the preseason and that continued in the opener. Shepherd had four hits (along with three RBIs and three runs scored), Curry three (and five RBIs), Tucker Maxwell also had three hits and nine other Bulldogs had one, including a lot of late substitutions once the rout was on.
"Every practice we come out and barrel a bunch of balls," Shepherd said, "and we thought it would carry over."
The Bulldogs and Eagles play game two of the series Saturday at 1 p.m.
Staff Writer
It is, of course, only one game. A single game in a long, long season that the Georgia baseball team hopes will stretch into summer.
Yes, it's one game, but Friday night at Foley Field was also the Bulldogs' season opener. And for a while there, it was not a grand one. But the troubles didn't last.
Facing a fired up Georgia Southern squad, which brought with it a large, spirited crowd for the in-state matchup this weekend, the Bulldogs got behind 4-0 in the third inning and 7-2 in the top of the fifth.
Then came 15 unanswered runs over three innings. Yep, 15. Final score: Georgia 22, Georgia Southern 9.
"From the fifth inning on, that was a lot of fun to watch," Ike Cousins head coach Scott Stricklin said.
In a game loaded with offense — 19 Bulldog hits to go along with those 22 runs — one moment stood apart from the rest, even though Georgia had the game mostly in hand by then.
Leading 11-7, after avoiding damage in the top of the seventh despite committing a pair of errors behind reliever Tony Locey who pitched 2.0 great innings, the Bulldogs had runners on first and third with one away.
A red-hot Cam Shepherd came to the plate with smoke practically coming off of him, having gone 4-for-4 with three runs batted in to that point. Georgia Southern opted to walk Shepherd, loading the bases with one out and the game on the brink of getting really out of hand, and pitch to Michael Curry.
If you need a reminder, Curry is Georgia's All-SEC designated hitter, and he was 2-for-4 in the opener to that point.
For Shepherd, the sophomore shortstop who hit .307 as a freshman starter, getting walked to load the bases for Curry was quite the compliment. It was also quite the surprise.
"I don't even know if that's ever happened to me before, honestly," Shepherd said.
So what did Curry do? He had a highlight moment, of course, mashing a Zach Coward pitch over the fence in right-center field for a grand slam — doing so despite the muggy conditions and light rain that was coming down that inning.
"That was awesome," Shepherd said.
As memorable moments go in a very productive Georgia career for the junior Curry, that one was pretty darn good.
"That was different for me," Curry said. "I definitely went to the plate with a chip on my shoulder, for sure. I was excited for that opportunity and made the best of it."
The homer came on the fourth pitch of the at-bat and Curry said he'd seen the pitcher's fastball and two breaking balls at that point, so he felt good about his chances.
"It was definitely fun, a pretty cool experience," he said.
Also a cool experience, rallying from a big deficit and being confident all along that it was going to happen. Both Shepherd and Curry said the guys in the dugout were positive throughout and always believed that they'd turn things around — something that didn't happen as much last season.
"This team, there's something different going on in the dugout," Curry said. "We were calm the whole time; losing was never in our mind. I thought that was pretty awesome. I felt it, we all felt it, so it was really cool to feel that."
Said Stricklin: "The thing I think I can take from that is that we just didn't stop fighting."
Georgia isn't going to put up 22 runs and 19 hits every game, but the Bulldogs hit the ball well in the preseason and that continued in the opener. Shepherd had four hits (along with three RBIs and three runs scored), Curry three (and five RBIs), Tucker Maxwell also had three hits and nine other Bulldogs had one, including a lot of late substitutions once the rout was on.
"Every practice we come out and barrel a bunch of balls," Shepherd said, "and we thought it would carry over."
The Bulldogs and Eagles play game two of the series Saturday at 1 p.m.
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
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