University of Georgia Athletics
University of Georgia
38-19
Campbell
35-25
Bulldogs Rout Campbell 18-5 In NCAA Opener
June 02, 2018 | Baseball
ATHENS, Ga. --- The top-seeded Georgia Bulldogs opened play in the Athens Regional pounding 15 hits on their way to an 18-5 win over the fourth-seeded Campbell Fighting Camels Saturday in front of their home crowd of 2,870 at Foley Field.
After falling behind 2-0, shortstop Cam Shepherd jumpstarted the Georgia offense lifting an opposite field two-run homerun, his fourth of the season. The Bulldogs would break the game open in the fourth inning tallying seven runs in the frame. Consecutive four pitch walks to LJ Talley and Mason Meadows and a bunt single by C.J. Smith set up Tucker Bradley (2-for-4, 4 RBI) for the big blow of the inning, a line drive grand-slam, the first of his career and third home run of the season. The grand slam was a school-record seventh for the Bulldogs and provided a 9-3 cushion. Georgia smashed a season-high four home runs in the contest.
The Bulldogs would pour on eight more insurance runs. Adam Sasser (3-for-4, 2 RBI) and Keegan McGovern also connected on long a pair home runs en route to the victory. McGovern leads the team with 16 home runs, while Sasser now has 10. The clubs were slated to play last night but rain postponed the game until noon Saturday. Sophomore left fielder Matthew Barefoot went 3-for-5 with a home run and 3 RBI for the Camels.
Georgia reliever Tony Locey improved to 7-2, pitching four innings in relief of Chase Adkins. Senior Blake Cairnes pitched the final two scoreless frames with three strikeouts. Camel starter Wes Noble dropped to 7-7, surrendering eight runs on eight hits in 3.1 innings.
Due to a lengthy game three Saturday between Duke and Campbell, the Bulldogs (38-19) now will play third-seeded Troy Trojans (42-19) Sunday in a winner's bracket matchup with first pitch scheduled for Noon. The loser of that contest will play an elimination game against Duke at 6 p.m. Sunday. The regional will continue on Monday with a game at 1 p.m., and if necessary game seven would be at 5 p.m.
Georgia Head Coach Scott Stricklin
On the Opening Win
"We knew this would be a tough game early on and we told the guys right before the game that it didn't matter what happened in innings one through five. We knew we would win this game in the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth. We were able to take an early punch and that was great for us."
Georgia Sophomore Right Fielder Tucker Bradley
On his grand slam…
"Honestly I was just trying to see something up. I was thinking curveballs were coming at me. When I hit it I knew it had the chance and I was hoping it would at least get in the gap. Coming around third and seeing all my teammates get jacked up was a great feeling."
Game 3 Saturday: Duke Explodes in Comeback Win, 16-8
ATHENS, Ga. – Storming back after a lengthy weather delay, the second-seeded Duke Blue Devils turned a seven-run deficit into a 16-8 come-from-behind win against fourth-seed Campbell in the first elimination game of the Athens Regional Saturday.
The win ended Duke's 57-year NCAA Tournament victory drought, dating back to 1961. After failing to record a run in Friday's game, the Blue Devils (41-16) amassed 15 runs in the final three innings to avoid elimination against the Campbell Fighting Camels in Saturday's four-hour affair at Foley Field. Duke will play Sunday at 6 p.m. against the losing team of Sunday's noon matchup between Georgia and Troy, which was slated to play Saturday night, but was moved to due to NCAA curfew rules.
At the time of the delay, Campbell was in full control, leading 8-1 with three innings to play. After baseball resumed following the an hour and a half delay, Duke notched a pair of runs in the seventh and eighth innings each to set up the ninth-inning fury. A bases loaded single by Max Miller pulled the game within two at 8-6. In the next at-bat, freshman Chris Crabtree roped the seventh pitch of the at-bat into the right-field corner, clearing the bases for a double and the lead, 9-8. The Blue Devils continued to pile it on, going through the order twice, before settling at 16-8.
Earning the win on the mound in relief was Graeme Stinson, tossing a scoreless 2.2 innings to improve to 4-1 on the season. Campbell, the Big South Champions, conclude its season with a 35-26 record.
Seven Blue Devils notched multi-hit games with Miller (4-5, 3 RBI, 3 R), Crabtree (3-4, 3 RBI, 2 R), and Chris Proctor (2-6, 3 RBI, 1 R) leading the charge.
NCAA Athens Regional Schedule Updated
Sunday
Game 4: Georgia vs. Troy at Noon (ESPN3)
Game 5: Georgia/Troy loser vs. Duke at 6 p.m. (ESPN3)
Monday
Game 6: 1 p.m.
Game 7: (If necessary) 5 p.m.
Quotes From Game Three: Duke vs. Campbell
Duke Head Coach Chris Pollard
Opening statement…
"Congratulations to Campbell on a great year. Their club showed incredible toughness to turn around and play the way they did. It is not an easy day to play two, Allan Winans threw an incredible game and really put us on the ropes. I am incredibly proud of our club and I'm excited to get a chance to continue coaching them. We talked during the rain delay about how this team has never quit on each other and we came out with incredible energy and strung together good at bats and really put together great at bats during the ninth."
On the ninth inning…
"I think it's like a jump shooter in basketball, when you haven't seen the ball go in the rim for awhile you wonder if it will ever go in. We had some hits go in and quite frankly some soft hits go in and we really just capitalized on our momentum and went from there. We had a big inning like this against Notre Dame. We've got a team that once we pick up momentum we just keep it going. If there was an aspect of it that was surprising it was the fact that a lot of guys who hadn't had any at bats all year stepped up off the bench."
Senior Infielder Max Miller
On the offense…
"We knew that once we got past Winans it would be a different story. We knew that their bullpen hasn't had as much success. We knew we would have the chance to start putting up numbers once we got to guys who we could sit on pitches. Guys that hadn't played a lot this year really stepped up and helped us out."
Campbell Head Coach Justin Haire
Opening statement…
"That is a tough one to comment on. After game one with a tough first loss to Georgia coming out of the gates, I talked to our guys in between games and said, we have bounced back off the mat every time this year so just give it everything you've got. Win, lose or draw, empty the tank for each other and for this program and we can live with the results and I really feel like they did that."
On the rain delay and having to play back to back…
"It was a challenge certainly, but we aren't into making excuses in our program. We had an 8-1 lead going into the break and certainly had some momentum. Duke is a really quality club and hats go off to them for continuing to fight. We continued to fight and they came out on top and we didn't, unfortunately."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Locey, Tony (7-2)
L: NOBLE, Wes (7-7)
Batting:
2B: MINNICK, Zach 1 ; MEHL, Kyle 1
HR: BAREFOOT, Matthew 1 ; JONES, Christian 1
RBI: BAREFOOT, Matthew 3 ; JONES, Christian 1 ; ANSHAW, Tyler 1
SH: ANSHAW, Tyler 1
Base Running:
RUNS: BAREFOOT, Matthew 2 ; JONES, Christian 1 ; MEHL, Kyle 2
SB: BAREFOOT, Matthew 1
HBP: ANSHAW, Tyler 1 ; BABIN, Ty 1 ; MYERS, Bryce 1
Batting:
2B: Schunk, Aaron 1 ; Curry, Michael 1 ; Sasser, Adam 1
HR: Bradley, Tucker 1 ; McGovern, Keegan 1 ; Sasser, Adam 1 ; Shepherd, Cam 1
RBI: Bradley, Tucker 4 ; Schunk, Aaron 1 ; McGovern, Keegan 2 ; Curry, Michael 1 ; Sasser, Adam 2 ; Sullivan, Patrick 1 ; Shepherd, Cam 3 ; Logan, Trey 1 ; Talley, LJ 1 ; Tate, Cole 1
SF: McGovern, Keegan 1 ; Logan, Trey 1 ; Talley, LJ 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bradley, Tucker 1 ; Maxwell, Tucker 1 ; Schunk, Aaron 2 ; McGovern, Keegan 2 ; Curry, Michael 3 ; Sasser, Adam 3 ; Shepherd, Cam 1 ; Talley, LJ 1 ; Meadows, Mason 2 ; Smith, C.J. 2
SB: Johnson, Ivan 1
HBP: Bradley, Tucker 1 ; McGovern, Keegan 1 ; Talley, LJ 1 ; Meadows, Mason 1
