University of Georgia Athletics
Oregon State Beats Georgia 5-3
June 19, 2006 | Baseball
Omaha, Neb. --- Sixth-ranked Georgia was eliminated from the College World Series falling to No. 4 Oregon State 5-3 Monday in front of a crowd of 17,135 at Rosenblatt Stadium.
The Bulldogs finish the 2006 season with a record of 47-23, which marks the second most wins in school history (The 2004 team that advanced to the CWS went 47-22). Georgia made its fifth appearance at the College World Series, and the second time in the past three seasons under head coach David Perno.
The Beavers (45-15) took a 1-0 lead in the second. Tyler Graham and Mike Lissman led the frame off with a pair of singles, and Bill Rowe put down a sacrifice bunt moving the runners up while also reaching on a throwing error from Georgia pitcher Mickey Westphal loading the bases. Chris Kunda followed with a sacrifice fly to center driving in the run. In the top of the third, the Beavers took a 2-0 lead. Cole Gillespie doubled to right field, moved up to third on a fly out, and then scored on a bunt single from Graham.
Georgia pulled to within one at 2-1 in the bottom of the third when junior left fielder Jonathan Wyatt knocked a two-out, solo home run to right field. For Wyatt, it was his fourth home run of the year. OSU starter Jonah Nickerson was sharp in improving to 12-4. He pitched seven innings, allowing just a pair of runs on four hits with no walks and three strikeouts.
In the fourth, Oregon State got two more runs to make it 4-1. Lissman led off the inning by getting hit by a pitch, stole second, and came around to on a double to left from Kunda. Darwin Barney added a single through the left side of the infield driving in Kunda from second. Georgia looked to freshman Trevor Holder in relief of Westphal who allowed four runs on seven hits. He got the loss to fall to 7-3. Holder pitched 2.1 scoreless innings. Senior Rip Warren followed and gave up a run on two hits over the next 1.2 innings. Sophomore closer Joshua Fields pitched a scoreless ninth.
The Bulldogs pulled to within 4-2 with a run in the fifth. Designated hitter Matt Olson (2-for-3) led the inning off with a double to center. After Ryan Peisel reached on an infield single Gordon Beckham hit into a double play that allowed Olson to move to third. Matthew Dunn followed with a RBI single to center.
The Beavers went up 5-2 in the top of the eighth as Shea McFeely double to left center, was sacrifice to third by Graham, and scored on a single from Lissman.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Bulldogs got a run as Wyatt drew a walk, moved around to third on two wild pitches, and scored on a RBI single from senior right fielder Bobby Felmy to give the game its final margin.
Oregon State turned three double plays including a game-ending one to give the Beavers their first CWS victory in school history. Kevin Gunderson pitched the final two innings for the Beavers to pick up his 18th save.
"We hit in to some untimely double plays, three at the worst time and it cost us," said Perno. "Overall, we got a tough draw, when you consider we faced (Eddie) Degerman of Rice and (Jonah) Nickerson of Oregon State. We battled, and I'm proud of this team. It's been fun with them, they have been great to coach and now our season is over."
"You really can't hang your head," said Felmy. "Everybody loses and the tough part is that I am not going to be around these guys anymore. I won't be a part of it next year, but we've got a lot of talented young guys back and I know they want to make it back here."
Felmy is part of a seven-member senior class and one of five Bulldogs who were selected in the Major League Baseball draft last week that will begin their professional baseball career this summer."
The Bulldogs finish the 2006 season with a record of 47-23, which marks the second most wins in school history (The 2004 team that advanced to the CWS went 47-22). Georgia made its fifth appearance at the College World Series, and the second time in the past three seasons under head coach David Perno.
The Beavers (45-15) took a 1-0 lead in the second. Tyler Graham and Mike Lissman led the frame off with a pair of singles, and Bill Rowe put down a sacrifice bunt moving the runners up while also reaching on a throwing error from Georgia pitcher Mickey Westphal loading the bases. Chris Kunda followed with a sacrifice fly to center driving in the run. In the top of the third, the Beavers took a 2-0 lead. Cole Gillespie doubled to right field, moved up to third on a fly out, and then scored on a bunt single from Graham.
Georgia pulled to within one at 2-1 in the bottom of the third when junior left fielder Jonathan Wyatt knocked a two-out, solo home run to right field. For Wyatt, it was his fourth home run of the year. OSU starter Jonah Nickerson was sharp in improving to 12-4. He pitched seven innings, allowing just a pair of runs on four hits with no walks and three strikeouts.
In the fourth, Oregon State got two more runs to make it 4-1. Lissman led off the inning by getting hit by a pitch, stole second, and came around to on a double to left from Kunda. Darwin Barney added a single through the left side of the infield driving in Kunda from second. Georgia looked to freshman Trevor Holder in relief of Westphal who allowed four runs on seven hits. He got the loss to fall to 7-3. Holder pitched 2.1 scoreless innings. Senior Rip Warren followed and gave up a run on two hits over the next 1.2 innings. Sophomore closer Joshua Fields pitched a scoreless ninth.
The Bulldogs pulled to within 4-2 with a run in the fifth. Designated hitter Matt Olson (2-for-3) led the inning off with a double to center. After Ryan Peisel reached on an infield single Gordon Beckham hit into a double play that allowed Olson to move to third. Matthew Dunn followed with a RBI single to center.
The Beavers went up 5-2 in the top of the eighth as Shea McFeely double to left center, was sacrifice to third by Graham, and scored on a single from Lissman.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Bulldogs got a run as Wyatt drew a walk, moved around to third on two wild pitches, and scored on a RBI single from senior right fielder Bobby Felmy to give the game its final margin.
Oregon State turned three double plays including a game-ending one to give the Beavers their first CWS victory in school history. Kevin Gunderson pitched the final two innings for the Beavers to pick up his 18th save.
"We hit in to some untimely double plays, three at the worst time and it cost us," said Perno. "Overall, we got a tough draw, when you consider we faced (Eddie) Degerman of Rice and (Jonah) Nickerson of Oregon State. We battled, and I'm proud of this team. It's been fun with them, they have been great to coach and now our season is over."
"You really can't hang your head," said Felmy. "Everybody loses and the tough part is that I am not going to be around these guys anymore. I won't be a part of it next year, but we've got a lot of talented young guys back and I know they want to make it back here."
Felmy is part of a seven-member senior class and one of five Bulldogs who were selected in the Major League Baseball draft last week that will begin their professional baseball career this summer."
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