University of Georgia Athletics
Extra-Base Hits On Upswing For Bulldogs
March 12, 2015 | Baseball
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
ATHENS, Ga. -- It was a feel-good trot around the bases Wednesday, on a feel-good day for the Georgia baseball team. The Bulldogs blanked Appalachian State 4-0, won their fourth straight game to improve to 12-5 and got some power from an unlikely source -- all of which has UGA feeling quite good heading into the start of SEC play this weekend.
Getting on base is nothing new for Bulldogs centerfielder Stephen Wrenn -- the sophomore leadoff hitter has reached safely in all 17 games this season -- but touching all four after going deep? That's new.
Wren smacked his first career home run off the Mountaineers' Taylor Thurber in the fifth inning, a two-run shot that he was pretty sure was leaving Foley Field.
"Definitely, but I was not about to slow down on my run, just it case it didn't," said Wrenn, who is first on the team with 24 hits and second with a .358 batting average.
Georgia didn't exactly light up the scoreboard with just six hits -- all coming in the first five innings -- but two were Zack Bowers doubles and two were home runs. Designated hitter Daniel Nichols kicked off the scoring for the Bulldogs, belting a line-drive solo home run off the scoreboard in the bottom of the second inning.
Bowers' two doubles brought his season total to a team-high seven. He also leads Georgia with a .365 batting average and six homers, and his slugging percentage of .885 is second in the conference.
"He's been an extra-base hit machine," senior dual threat Jared Walsh said of Bowers.
Georgia has 17 homers through 17 games, after hitting 13 long balls all of last season. Eight different Bulldogs have gone deep this season, and Georgia also has 32 doubles and six triples.
"A home run's not going to come every time," Walsh said, "but if we can continue to work through the gaps [with doubles], we're going to be something special."
In their last five games, the Bulldogs have hit six home runs, a triple and nine doubles. If Georgia can continue to produce that kind of offensive pop and punch against SEC competition, it could be a feel-good run through the conference.
"We're a confident bunch right here," Wrenn said. "I know the defense is confident in our pitchers, our pitchers are confident in the defense, and the batters, if I'm on base I trust my hitters to get me in."
Georgia currently ranks second in the SEC with 17 home runs, behind only Texas A&M's 20, and the 32 doubles is in the upper third of the league. This weekend's opponent, Missouri (12-4), is near the bottom of the league with 23 doubles and eight home runs.
"We've got a lot of guys clicking and we just need to continue to swing the bats, Stricklin said.
First home runs are baseball moments that stick with a player. A junior, Bowers remembered his first homer instantly: it was against Georgia Southern during his freshman season in 2013 and it was also his first career hit.
"It was a lefty who threw me a change-up away and I hit it out to right field," Bowers said.
Walsh, who pitched 7.0 scoreless innings Wednesday and is batting .333, with six doubles, also quickly recalled his first long ball for the Bulldogs.
"Do I remember my first one, are you kidding me? I was hitting about .140 my freshman year and we were playing Ole Miss," Walsh said. "I got one and I hit it out to right-center. I'll never forget it. It was really special."
The Bulldogs' three-game series against Mizzou begins at 6:05 p.m. Friday at Foley Field.
John Frierson is a staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Hall of Fame at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
