Bulldogs Blank Alabama To Clinch Road Series

Saturday, April 23

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

3 pm

University of Georgia

28-11, 11-6

Alabama

23-17, 8-9

Georgia

Alabama

April 23, 2022 | Baseball

Box Score Boxscore39

ATHENS, Ga. – The 18th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs registered their seventh straight win over Alabama Saturday to clinch another road series, blanking the Crimson Tide 3-0 on two hits in front of a crowd of 3,765 at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.

Bulldog junior ace right-hander Jonathan Cannon returned on a pitch count, and he provided five perfect innings with six strikeouts to improve to 7-1. He had missed the last two weeks with a non-throwing injury that resulted in a muscle strain in his right arm. Cannon threw 66 pitches in a combined shutout. Before Saturday, his last outing was six shutout innings in a 6-1 win over No. 16 Florida on April 1. For the year, Cannon lowered his overall ERA to 1.55 and his ERA in SEC action to 0.69. In 52.1 innings this season, he has 51 strikeouts and three walks.

The Bulldogs (28-11, 11-6 SEC) combined for their fourth shutout of the year and their first SEC shutout since the Mississippi State series earlier this year. Cannon was a part of that one with Nolan Crisp as they blanked No. 24 MSU 11-0 on March 18. It was Georgia's first two-hit shutout since a 4-0 win over Auburn last year.

"Jonathan had great command and set the tone for us," said Georgia's Ike Cousins head baseball coach Scott Stricklin. "He wanted to go one more inning, and had a perfect game going too, but he knew he was on a pitch count. Luke Wagner and Chandler Marsh came in and maintained the shutout and got us to Jack Gowen. It was a good day to be a pitcher. There were a few balls that were hit really well that the wind knocked down. Parks (Harber) supplied most of the offense today, getting three hits and the big one with two outs."

Sophomore third baseman Parks Harber (3-for-4, 3 RBI) staked Georgia to a 3-0 lead with a two-out, three-run double in the second inning. Fernando Gonzalez got the inning going with a leadoff double, moved to third on a bunt single by Ben Anderson. Alabama right-hander Jacob McNairy retired the next two Bulldogs and had Harber down 0-2 in the count. He fouled off a couple of pitches before smacking a ball off the right field wall, bringing a trio of Bulldogs home while claiming the team RBI lead with 37.

Wagner started the sixth and catcher Dominic Tamez notched the Crimson Tide's first hit, a single to center. Wagner kept Alabama off the scoreboard and went on to pitch 1.1 innings. With two on and one out in the seventh, Marsh came on for Wagner. He inherited a 2-0 count on Andrew Pinckney and got him to pop out. After Owen Diodati drew a walk to load the bases, he retired Dominic Tamez to maintain Georgia's lead. Marsh worked a perfect eighth to set the stage for Gowen. The senior closer pitched a perfect frame for his eighth save including second of the series. McNairy dropped to 4-2, allowing three runs on seven hits with five strikeouts.

Alabama (23-17, 8-9 SEC) was blanked for only the third time this season, the other two times came in February by then top-ranked Texas in Austin. It was Georgia's first shutout of Alabama since 2002 (in Athens) and first in Tuscaloosa since 1946.

The final game of the series begins Sunday at 2:02 p.m. ET, and it will be available on ESPN2 and the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network.

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