Dog Notes: Tyler Start A Stunner
February 19, 2016 | Baseball
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
We all know how good Georgia baseball pitcher Robert Tyler can be. The junior right-hander isn't a preseason All-American for nothing, of course. But then come those special outings when you're reminded that this Bulldog is a special breed.
The Bulldogs' season opener Friday night at Foley Field was one of those outings, when Tyler was stunning, special and spectacular. Working on a pitch count in the 70s he pitched the first five innings of the Bulldogs' 4-1 win over Georgia Southern, striking out 13 -- a career high -- of the 17 batters he faced.
"Shoot, I wasn't expecting that at all," Tyler said. "I was on a pitch count and I was just going to roll with that and do my best, but I definitely wasn't expecting that tonight. It was awesome."
Georgia coach Scott Stricklin said Tyler's outing was "how we drew it up" coming into the game. Stricklin said he was hoping to maybe get Tyler into the sixth inning, "but when you strike out that many you're going to have a high pitch count. He had command from the first pitch on."
When Georgia Southern catcher C.J. Brazil singled up the middle in the third inning, it felt wrong, like when the Golden State Warriors lose a game. No worries, though, it was the only hit Tyler allowed.
When Eagles pitcher Evan Cleveland walked in the fourth, it again seemed, well, like it wasn't supposed to happen. It was the only other blemish on Tyler's night.
He struck out Eagles looking, he struck them out swinging, he often had them so off balance they were swinging for strike three on a pitch a foot off the plate.
Tyler suffered a serious arm injury pitching against Georgia Southern last season, limiting him to six appearances all season. He said it's not easy to leave a game like Friday's, when you're feeling great and pitching about as well as you can.
"It's definitely tough," he said, "especially when I felt like I was cruising and felt really good, with the adrenaline from the first game and everything. Coach says: `You can be tough but don't be stupid.' So you've got to know when it's time and you've got to pass it along."
Tyler wasn't the only Bulldog getting Ks on the mound. Bo Tucker, a sophomore lefty, pitched 2 1/3 innings and struck out two. Freshman Blakely Brown picked up the save, striking out the last three batters he faced in 1 2/3 innings.
Georgia pitchers combined for 18 strikeouts, among the highest totals in program history, while walking only three and holding the Eagles to four hits.
The New Guys
The young man catching all those thrown strikes was a freshman playing in his first game, catcher Michael Curry. It was a memorable debut.
"That was a lights-out job by Robert," Curry said. "Everything was perfect and it was like playing a video game with him. I set up and he threw it right in my mitt. All the guys were good tonight."
Of the nine Bulldogs that jogged out onto the field in the top of the first inning, four of them were doing so for the first time. Four freshmen in the lineup is the most Georgia has had on opening day since 2009, which five of the nine were rookies. That game was a 15-2 throttling of Youngstown State; this one was closer, but still a great start for the freshmen four.
Curry had a throwing error that brought in the Eagles' only run, making it 4-1 in the eighth, but otherwise was solid.
"I thought that Michael Curry hit two balls right on the nose and he caught outstanding behind the plate," Stricklin said. "The guy's throwing 96 miles an hour and he caught like a big-league back there as a freshman."
Along with Curry behind the plate, there was first baseman Patrick Sullivan who singled in his first career at-bat and later scored from third in the two-run third inning. In the fifth, center fielder Logan Moody -- playing for the injured Stephen Wrenn -- got his first hit with a single to left field.
Last Friday at Jack Turner Stadium, the Georgia softball team opened its season with two freshmen starting on the left side of the infield. The baseball Bulldogs have Sullivan and freshman LJ Talley starting on the right side, with Talley at second. In the seventh Sullivan had one throw in the dirt get past him, but the runner had already beaten the throw for a hit and didn't advance, so nothing came of it.
Moody will be in center field for at least this weekend series while Wrenn, the preseason All-American junior, is out with a minor injury. Moody's time in the lineup could be limited given the Bulldogs' situation when the outfield is healthy, but the freshmen infielders could be busy. At first, Sullivan and fellow freshman Adam Sasser are expected to platoon at the position.
"It's an honor," Curry said of being part of an impactful group of freshmen. "It's definitely exciting ... and we're here to help the team. We all have the same mindset, we all want to go to Omaha."
Long Gone
Georgia manufactured its first two runs, both coming in the third. Mitchell Webb walked, Sullivan singled to center and two batters later shortstop Nick King drove in Webb. Skyler Weber then drove in Sullivan with a single to right.
It was a bit simpler in the sixth: left fielder Keegan McGovern reached on an infield single to lead off the frame and then designated hitter Daniel Nichols blistered an Evan Challenger pitch, sending it high and hard over the wall in right, making it 4-0 Bulldogs.
Given that Georgia Southern had won the last four meetings, and seven of the past nine, that home run and Friday's win carried some weight to it.
"There was a lot of emotion out there tonight and I was really excited with the way we responded," Nichols said
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.
