Fourth-ranked Georgia defeated Kennesaw State 7-6 here Wednesday in front of a Stillwell Stadium crowd of 1,402.

With its latest victory, Georgia matches its best start since 2009 with a 25-5 mark after 30 games. Senior Adam Goodman (1-1) collected his first career win in relief while junior Zac Kristofak picked up his first save of the year and seventh of his career. Kennesaw State falls to 15-15 with reliever Jared Rhine (1-3) taking the loss, surrendering three runs (only one earned) in an inning of work.

The Bulldogs jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second inning courtesy of two hits and two KSU errors. Randon Jernigan, Cam Shepherd and Riley King notched RBI in the frame. The Owls made it a one-run contest in the third, scoring three runs on three hits as Logan Moody was lifted in favor of sophomore Darryn Pasqua following a bases-loaded walk. Moody was making his first career start and allowed three runs on four hits with three walks and four strikeouts over 2.1 innings.

The Owls tied the contest in the fourth on a two-out, bloop-single by Jake Franklin off Goodman. Georgia responded in the fifth. LJ Talley reached on a walk, went to third on a two-out double by Chaney Rogers and scored on an error by Garrett Hodges in left field that put Georgia back in front 5-4. In the sixth, Georgia pushed its lead out to 7-4 on a sacrifice fly by Aaron Schunk and a run-scoring single by Talley. The inning began with an error, two walks and three wild pitches. KSU got an unearned run in the sixth to close the gap to 7-5 as Goodman gave way to freshman Cole Wilcox after going a career-high 2.1 innings with four strikeouts. A two-out wild pitch by Wilcox in the eighth brought the Owls to within one at 7-6. Wilcox pitched 2.1 innings with two strikeouts. In the ninth, Kristofak retired the Owls in order for his seventh career save.

The Southeastern Conference leading Bulldogs return home Friday for a pivotal league series with fifth-ranked Vanderbilt (23-6, 6-3 SEC). All three games are sold out with only UGA student tickets remaining. First pitch Friday will be at 7:02 p.m. and be streamed on SEC Network+ and available on the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network.

Dawg Tracks 

• For the 21^st time this season, Georgia had an inning where it scored at least four runs.
• Senior Adam Goodman provided a career-high 2.1 innings and four strikeouts for his first career win.
• Junior Zac Kristofak picked up his first save of the year by taking care of the ninth.
• Freshman Randon Jernigan, who has 17 career starts in left field, made his first career start in centerfield.

Coach’s Corner

• Ike Cousins Head Baseball Coach Scott Stricklin

On the game….
“I thought Logan Moody did well in his first career start. Adam Goodman came in and settled the game down and did a nice job in the middle innings and Cole Wilcox had overpowering stuff tonight. Also, that’s the best I’ve seen Zac Kristofak pitch this year in taking care of the ninth. We took advantage of some of Kennesaw State’s mistakes but credit them for coming back. Now, we’ve got to get ready for a weekend series with Vanderbilt, and we’re looking forward to playing at home again and having three great crowds like we did for the LSU series.”