University of Georgia Athletics
Georgia Downs UNC Wilmington, 11-2, To Punch Ticket To Regional Final
June 01, 2024 | Baseball
Fast Facts
- Corey Collins (2-3, R, RBI, HR, BB, HBP) blasted a solo home run to right field in Georgia's first at-bat of the game, giving the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead with his 19th home run of the season.
- UNC Wilmington's Trevor Marsh (1-5, R, RBI, HR) evened the score at one apiece with his 15th home run of the year to lead off the second inning for the Seahawks.
- Kolby Branch (1-4, 2 R, 4 RBI, HR, BB) sent his fourth grand slam of the season over the center field wall in the bottom of the second inning as the Bulldogs retook the lead, 5-1. The sophomore now holds Georgia's individual single-season record in the category, tallying four of the Bulldogs' 12 grand slams in the 2024 campaign.
- Branch crossed the plate on a Dylan Goldstein (1-4, R, RBI, SF) sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 6-1 in the fourth inning.
- UNCW left fielder Brock Wills (2-4, RBI, BB) scored second baseman Aiden Evans on a bases-loaded infield hit to trim Georgia's lead to 6-2 in the top of the fifth. In the bottom of the inning, Georgia's Dillon Carter and Clayton Chadwick crossed home plate on a UNCW throwing error that also allowed Branch to reach second, giving the Bulldogs a six-run lead, 8-2.
- After singling up the middle in the bottom of the seventh, Chadwick (1-1, 3 R, RBI, 2 BB, 2 HBP) advanced to second on a wild pitch, stole third, and scored on another wild pitch to tally the Bulldogs' ninth run of the game.
- Fernando Gonzalez's (0-4, R, RBI, BB) bases-loaded walk scored Goldstein to put the Bulldogs at the 10-run mark in the eighth inning. Slate Alford, who led the Bulldogs with three hits, then scored on a Chadwick hit-by-pitch to give Georgia the 11-2 advantage.
- Georgia's batters were hit-by-pitch six times, matching the Bulldogs' March 15 matchup at Kentucky for the most in a game this season.
- DJ Radtke (1-0) picked up the first win of his collegiate career as the first pitcher out of the bullpen for the Bulldogs. The redshirt sophomore gave up one hit, walked two, and struck out three in two innings on the mound. Kolten Smith (9-2) drew the start for Georgia, recording a stat line of four hits, two runs, six walks, and five strikeouts in four innings.
- Jacob Shafer (4-6) recorded the loss for UNC Wilmington, recording the start and pitching 1.1 innings for the Seahawks (3 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 1 HP).
Key Quotes
Georgia Head Coach Wes Johnson
Opening statement…
"We came out tonight and we were a little more relaxed, I don't know if the word's relaxed but a little more loose, I guess. We kind of had those jitters out of the way. I thought Kolton dealt with a lot of adversity, and was able to overcome some of that. Obviously, Kolby got off a big swing. He's worked really hard on hitting the ball to right center, he got a pitch out over the plate and got a good swing. I thought DJ came in and really calmed down that situation after Kolton was cramping up and then Joshua and Christian finishing it out there on the mound and saving some additional bullets for tomorrow was big."
#9 Kolby Branch | INF | So.
On setting the tone early in the game…
"When Corey can set the tone like that, it's good to see. He steps up there and, he's done it too many times this season, the way he gets on the line and just lights the room up and makes everyone calm down just a tad. It's good to see."
#38 DJ Radtke | RHP | R-So.
On getting his first strikeout of the night…
"It definitely helps. I think the biggest thing for us today was filling up the strike zone, and I tried to do that as best I could. Coach tells us all the time to believe in ourselves and that really helps me calm down when we're out there in big spots."
