University of Georgia Athletics
University of Georgia
6-8
Rider
4-5
Georgia Drops Game One Versus Rider, 11-4
March 10, 2017 | Baseball
ATHENS, Ga. --- The Georgia Bulldogs (6-8) fell behind in the first inning and could not recover, falling 11-4 to Rider (4-5) in game one of the series on Friday night at Foley Field.
Rider took a 6-0 lead in the top of the first inning before Andrew Gist relieved Kevin Smith and fanned three batters to strand two.
Rider tacked on two more in the second before Georgia made its way on the board in the third inning. Tucker Maxwell singled up the middle before Cam Shepherd was hit by a pitch and Will Campbell singled to right. Michael Curry reached on a fielder's choice, bringing Maxwell home. Austin Biggar hit his third double of the season to plate Shepherd and Curry home to cut Rider's lead to five.
Down 10-3 heading into the bottom of the sixth, Keegan McGovern singled to left field and Aaron Schunk reached on an error, putting two batters on base for Adam Sasser who came in to pinch hit. Sasser singled to center field, loading the bases for Will Proctor. Proctor hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score McGovern for Georgia's final run of the game.
Game two of the series begins Saturday, March 11 at 1 p.m. at Foley Field.
For the latest on Georgia Baseball, follow the team on Twitter (@baseballUGA), Instagram (@baseballuga) and Facebook (GeorgiaBaseball).
Dawg Tracks: Adam Goodman became the 19th pitcher to see the mound this season for Georgia, the most since 2014.
- Austin Biggar extended his hitting streak to six games.
Coach's Corner
Ike Cousins Head Baseball Coach Scott Stricklin
On pitching in the first inning…
"Kevin Smith got off to a bad start. They gained some momentum and he just couldn't get himself out of the hole. Any time you have to pull your starter in the first inning with no outs on the board, you're in for a really long night. You can't start a game like that. The one thing I do have confidence in is that Kevin Smith is going to bounce back and he's going to be really good the next time he takes the mound."
On his confidence in the bullpen…
"Andrew Gist got put into a tough situation early. He's been great all year long, but wasn't as comfortable as he has been tonight. Shane Tucker, Tim Elliott, and Adam Goodman did an outstanding job. I'm really proud of them. They kept the score where it was. If we were going to have a chance to win we had to put some zeros on the board and those three did a great job of that."
On bouncing back tomorrow…
"We need to get off to a better start. We need to come out tomorrow and put up a zero in the first inning. They have a very good pitcher going for them tomorrow, so they're going to come in here with a lot of confidence and they're going to try to win a series on the road in Georgia. We have our work cut out for us and we have to come out ready to fight tomorrow."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Soporowski (1-1)
L: Smith, Kevin (1-2)
Batting:
2B: Johnson 1 ; Bender 1 ; McClure 2
3B: Johnson 1 ; Volaski 1
HR: McClure 1
RBI: Johnson 2 ; Bender 1 ; McClure 3 ; Volaski 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Johnson 1 ; Bender 1 ; Mihalik 3 ; McClure 3 ; Lipinski 2 ; Volaski 1
SB: Kaiser 1
HBP: Lipinski 1
Batting:
2B: Biggar, Austin 1
RBI: Curry, Michael 1 ; Biggar, Austin 2 ; Proctor, Will 1
SF: Proctor, Will 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Maxwell, Tucker 1 ; Shepherd, Cam 1 ; Curry, Michael 1 ; McGovern, Keegan 1
HBP: Shepherd, Cam 2 ; Moody, Logan 1 ; Webb, Mitchell 1
