University of Georgia Athletics
Red Squad Earns Its Steaks
November 05, 2017 | Baseball, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
Keegan McGovern will take his steak medium, thank you very much. Again.
Georgia baseball's Fall World Series wrapped up Sunday at Foley Field with a 9-6 win for the Red squad, which took two of the three games during the weekend series that wraps up fall practice. McGovern, the big senior left-fielder, was on the winning side for the third time in his four seasons with the Bulldogs.
"Keegan wins everything, so I wanted to beat him so bad," said the Black squad's Michael Curry, who led off the fourth inning with a home run.
A smiling McGovern understood Curry's playful frustration. Along with three wins in the Red vs. Black series, he said, he's won the team weightlifting competitions as well.
"So that's nice," he said.
Three things were on the line in the Fall World Series: the obvious bragging rights, which may be the most important; the winning side will get to enjoy a steak dinner, served to it by the losing side, which will have to settle for hot dogs; also, the losing side will have to clean Foley Field.
"We'll probably have some lawn chairs set up and watch them sweep the stands, just kind of cheering them on as they go," McGovern joked, perhaps. "That will be awesome."
Ike Cousins head coach Scott Stricklin liked a lot of what he saw Sunday, as well as throughout the weekend and the fall. Perhaps more than anything, competition was stressed during fall practice, he said.
"We competed every single time in the fall and if you lost you had to clean up, and cleaning up, there's a lot to do on a baseball field to clean up," he said. "Losing stinks and we want them to understand that and not like it, and understand that the last thing they ever want to do is lose.
"We competed every single day in practice, every drill that we did, we competed, and I thought we really got better."
The Black squad took the opening game of the weekend, 4-2, on Friday. After getting robbed of a homer in the first inning of the first game by C.J. Smith, McGovern cleared the fence in the third inning.
Connor Tate hit a three-run home run off Ryan Webb for the deciding runs in game one, and the two freshmen would meet again Sunday.
On Saturday, the Red side evened the series with a 4-1 win. McGovern hit another homer for the Red, which also got a home run from Tucker Bradley. Cole Tate, Connor's twin brother, added a run for the Red with a sacrifice fly. McGovern added an RBI in the sixth and finished 2-for-3 with a walk, two stolen bases, two RBIs and the homer.
All that set up Sunday, with steaks and more on the line. The Black side struck first, with Smith earning a leadoff walk and then Cam Shepherd belting a two-run home run.
In the second, the Red team put five runs on the scoreboard with four straight singles and then an RBI double by Trey Logan. The Red side led 7-3 going into the fifth inning, when the Black squad got three runs, including Shepherd's second two-run homer of the game.
"I got some good pitches to hit and I finally got barrels on them," Shepherd said. "I shortened my swing a little bit and got two, and I'll take it."
He'd have rather taken it in a Fall World Series win, however.
"You hate to lose, but you also hate to clean the field and stuff," he said. "Who wants to do that? The bragging rights, that's tough because you'll have to hear about it probably until next fall."
Austin Biggar gave the Red team a bit of breathing room in the bottom of the fifth with his own two-run shot, making it 9-6. And at the end, Webb was back on the mound against Connor Tate, just like Friday, and Webb got his teammate this time for the win.
"At the end of the day, you just want to see your guys compete — have good at-bats, pitchers make good pitches and have some toughness about them," Stricklin said. "I thought I saw that out of both squads, out of pitchers and hitters and I thought our defense was good.
"I'm encouraged with what I've seen, I like this group, I like this team and I'm excited to get going."
So will it be steaks or hot dogs for the head coach?
"I get the leftovers," Stricklin said with a laugh. "Everyone will go out to my house, we'll probably do it next week, and we'll let them eat first, and the coaching staff usually gets the scraps."
UGAAA Staff Writer
Keegan McGovern will take his steak medium, thank you very much. Again.
Georgia baseball's Fall World Series wrapped up Sunday at Foley Field with a 9-6 win for the Red squad, which took two of the three games during the weekend series that wraps up fall practice. McGovern, the big senior left-fielder, was on the winning side for the third time in his four seasons with the Bulldogs.
"Keegan wins everything, so I wanted to beat him so bad," said the Black squad's Michael Curry, who led off the fourth inning with a home run.
A smiling McGovern understood Curry's playful frustration. Along with three wins in the Red vs. Black series, he said, he's won the team weightlifting competitions as well.
"So that's nice," he said.
Three things were on the line in the Fall World Series: the obvious bragging rights, which may be the most important; the winning side will get to enjoy a steak dinner, served to it by the losing side, which will have to settle for hot dogs; also, the losing side will have to clean Foley Field.
"We'll probably have some lawn chairs set up and watch them sweep the stands, just kind of cheering them on as they go," McGovern joked, perhaps. "That will be awesome."
Ike Cousins head coach Scott Stricklin liked a lot of what he saw Sunday, as well as throughout the weekend and the fall. Perhaps more than anything, competition was stressed during fall practice, he said.
"We competed every single time in the fall and if you lost you had to clean up, and cleaning up, there's a lot to do on a baseball field to clean up," he said. "Losing stinks and we want them to understand that and not like it, and understand that the last thing they ever want to do is lose.
"We competed every single day in practice, every drill that we did, we competed, and I thought we really got better."
The Black squad took the opening game of the weekend, 4-2, on Friday. After getting robbed of a homer in the first inning of the first game by C.J. Smith, McGovern cleared the fence in the third inning.
Connor Tate hit a three-run home run off Ryan Webb for the deciding runs in game one, and the two freshmen would meet again Sunday.
On Saturday, the Red side evened the series with a 4-1 win. McGovern hit another homer for the Red, which also got a home run from Tucker Bradley. Cole Tate, Connor's twin brother, added a run for the Red with a sacrifice fly. McGovern added an RBI in the sixth and finished 2-for-3 with a walk, two stolen bases, two RBIs and the homer.
All that set up Sunday, with steaks and more on the line. The Black side struck first, with Smith earning a leadoff walk and then Cam Shepherd belting a two-run home run.
In the second, the Red team put five runs on the scoreboard with four straight singles and then an RBI double by Trey Logan. The Red side led 7-3 going into the fifth inning, when the Black squad got three runs, including Shepherd's second two-run homer of the game.
"I got some good pitches to hit and I finally got barrels on them," Shepherd said. "I shortened my swing a little bit and got two, and I'll take it."
He'd have rather taken it in a Fall World Series win, however.
"You hate to lose, but you also hate to clean the field and stuff," he said. "Who wants to do that? The bragging rights, that's tough because you'll have to hear about it probably until next fall."
Austin Biggar gave the Red team a bit of breathing room in the bottom of the fifth with his own two-run shot, making it 9-6. And at the end, Webb was back on the mound against Connor Tate, just like Friday, and Webb got his teammate this time for the win.
"At the end of the day, you just want to see your guys compete — have good at-bats, pitchers make good pitches and have some toughness about them," Stricklin said. "I thought I saw that out of both squads, out of pitchers and hitters and I thought our defense was good.
"I'm encouraged with what I've seen, I like this group, I like this team and I'm excited to get going."
So will it be steaks or hot dogs for the head coach?
"I get the leftovers," Stricklin said with a laugh. "Everyone will go out to my house, we'll probably do it next week, and we'll let them eat first, and the coaching staff usually gets the scraps."
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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