Bulldogs Blast Presbyterian

Tuesday, February 28

Athens, Ga.

4:00 p.m.

University of Georgia

6-2

Presbyterian College

5-3

Presbyterian

Georgia

February 28, 2023 | Baseball

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ATHENS -- Georgia and Presbyterian combined to hit nine home runs Tuesday and eventually the Bulldogs posted an 11-6 win in front of a Foley Field crowd of 2,655.

In fact, the first six hits of the game were home runs with Presbyterian smacking a solo shot in the first while Georgia (6-2) tallied five that left the park to build a 7-1 lead by the second inning.

"Presbyterian does a really good job of not giving you anything," Georgia's Ike Cousins Head Baseball Coach Scott Stricklin said. "They have played eight games and only walked 13 hitters all year long. That is a good lesson for everybody. If you give up home runs, make sure they are solo shots. That is what happened. We did a good job of that. We limited the free passes for the most part today. The wind was gusting out, the ball was jumping, if you hit a fly ball, it was going out the first four or five innings. Our guys did a good job of being really aggressive the first couple of times through the order. Then our offense kind of shut down a little bit.

The Blue Hose (5-3) struck first with a one-out solo home run from Jack Gorman, his first of the year. The Bulldogs answered with three solo blasts in their half of the first for a 3-1 advantage. Graduate Connor Tate, redshirt freshman Charlie Condon (4-for-5, 3 RBI) and junior Corey Collins notched home runs. It was Tate's second of the year and extended his hitting streak to a career-best 13 games dating back to last season. Condon now has a pair of home runs and has hit safely now in seven straight contests For Collins, it was his fourth home run, tying him for the team lead.

Georgia freshman right-hander Matthew Hoskins made his debut after missing the first two weeks of the season with an illness. He pitched 1.2 innings before leaving with two on as the Bulldogs turned to graduate Kyle Greenler who got them out of the jam. In the second, Georgia extended its lead to 7-1 on solo home runs from Cole Wagner and Mason LaPlante plus a two-run double by Condon. Presbyterian cut it to 7-2 in the top of the third on a solo home run by Kyle Decker, his second of the year. Georgia pushed across two more runs in the third on a throwing error by relief pitcher Sean Hollister to make it 9-2. The teams exchanged runs in the fourth before the Blue Hose put up a three-spot in the sixth to cut it to 10-6.

"They had some momentum," Stricklin added. "It was important for us to score. We scored one run, but just to answer back to get a little more momentum. (Zach) DeVito was just outstanding. Dalton Rhadans was outstanding. Luke Wagner won the game for us. He gets the W. That is the best he has pitched. He comes in with the bases loaded and nobody out. They had momentum, and he pitched us out of that jam. I thought Matthew Hoskins was really good. He gives up a fly ball that carries out, but that is going to happen when you are throwing it 96. It was really electric stuff tonight, and it was good to have him back."

Luke Wagner evened his record at 1-1, pitching two scoreless innings while Blue Hose starter Mason McDaniel dropped to 1-1, allowing seven runs on seven hits in two innings. Georgia employed eight pitchers on the night, getting scoreless innings from Collin Caldwell, Wagner, DeVito and Rhadans.

Up next, Georgia plays host to Georgia Tech (7-0) at Foley Field Friday at 6 p.m. (SECN+). It will be the first of three against the Yellow Jackets as the teams play in Atlanta on Saturday at 2 p.m. (ACCNX), and then the Spring Baseball Classic to benefit Children's Healthcare of Atlanta will be Sunday at Coolray Field in Lawrenceville with first pitch at 3:02 p.m. (SECN).