University of Georgia
6-0
Northern Kentucky
2-4
Branch and Carter Homers Cap 7-6 Walk-Off
February 24, 2024 | Baseball
ATHENS-----Georgia's Kolby Branch tied the game with a three-run home run in the ninth inning and Dillon Carter followed with a solo blast over the scoreboard for a 7-6 walk-off over Northern Kentucky Saturday at Foley Field.
Georgia (6-0) was forced to bat in the ninth inning for the first time this season as the Norse carried a 6-3 lead in front a crowd of 2,866. Clayton Chadwick and Sebastian Murillo reached on back-to-back walks setting the stage for Branch's first Bulldog home run. Then with one out, Carter smashed his third home run of the year to cap the comeback.
"You've got to tip your hat to Northern Kentucky because they gave us a tough punch today, and we just kept battling," said Georgia's Ike Cousins head baseball coach Wes Johnson. "You look back at games like this to remember that you're never out of a game no matter what. We'll keep fighting all the way through."
"When you see some adversity like today, you don't how a team is going to react, but luckily this team reacted well," Branch added.
Georgia took an early 2-0 lead on a run-scoring single by senior Fernando Gonzalez and a long home run (429 feet) by sophomore Charlie Condon, his third of the year. The Norse (2-4) tied the game in the fifth and had a chance to take a lead, putting two runners in scoring position with one out. Sophomore right-hander Kolten Smith got the Bulldogs out of the jam and kept it a tie game.
In the bottom of the sixth with the score still 2-2, the Bulldogs put runners at the corners with nobody out. Norse senior right-hander Nick McClanahan retired the heart of the Bulldog lineup, getting Condon on a shallow flyout and striking out Dylan Goldstein and Logan Jordan. Trailing 5-2 in the eighth, Georgia loaded the bases again for the same trio of hitters with nobody out. Condon made it 5-3 with a sacrifice fly and then McClanahan and the Norse escaped further trouble to maintain the lead.
Northern Kentucky pushed across three runs in the eighth and one in the ninth to build their advantage including home runs by Mitch Wood and Liam McFadden-Ackman. McClanahan struck out five over three innings but got a no decision. NKU reliever Jake Johnson took the loss. Smith went five innings and allowed four runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts for the win.
The series concludes Sunday with first pitch set for 1:02 p.m. The game will be available on SECN+ and the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Smith, Kolten (1-0)
L: JOHNSON, Jake (0-1)
Batting:
2B: MOSS, Treyvin 1
HR: McFADDEN-ACKMAN, Lia 1 ; WOOD, Mitch 1
RBI: McFADDEN-ACKMAN, Lia 2 ; PAULICK, Jake 1 ; WOOD, Mitch 2
SH: SHANEYFELT, Tyler 1 ; ALTMAN, Jake 1
Base Running:
RUNS: MOSS, Treyvin 1 ; McFADDEN-ACKMAN, Lia 2 ; SHANEYFELT, Tyler 2 ; WOOD, Mitch 1
SB: McFADDEN-ACKMAN, Lia 1 ; DEVENPORT, Logen 1
HBP: SIMPSON, Cleary 1 ; PAULICK, Jake 1 ; WOOD, Mitch 1
Batting:
2B: Marant, John 1
HR: Condon, Charlie 1 ; Branch, Kolby 1 ; Carter, Dillon 1
RBI: Condon, Charlie 2 ; Branch, Kolby 3 ; Gonzalez, Fernando 1 ; Carter, Dillon 1
SF: Condon, Charlie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Condon, Charlie 1 ; Chadwick, Clayton 1 ; Marant, John 1 ; Murillo, Sebastian 1 ; Branch, Kolby 1 ; Gonzalez, Fernando 1 ; Carter, Dillon 1
HBP: Jordan, Logan 1
