HOOVER, ALA.—-Asa Lacy pitched six shutout innings and Chris Andritsos hit a pair of home runs to lead Texas A&M to a 7-0 win over eighth-ranked Georgia Wednesday in the SEC Tournament at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.
The Aggies (38-19) used a couple of two-out RBI-singles to take a 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth. Logan Foster and Allonte Wingate came through off freshman C.J. Smith. During the inning,
Bulldog redshirt freshman catcher Mason Meadows was hit on a swing by George Janca, and he had to leave the game. The Bulldogs turned to Austin Biggar for the remainder of the contest. Smith provided the Bulldogs with four innings and allowed two runs on six hits with no walks and a career-high six strikeouts but saw his record even to 1-1.
In the fifth, Georgia looked to sophomore Tony Locey, and he provided 2.2 scoreless innings before allowing a two-out, three-run home run to sophomore Chris Andritsos that made it 5-0. Senior Blake Cairnes finished the game for the Bulldogs, giving up two runs.
“Texas A&M was better than us today,” said Georgia’s Ike Cousins head baseball coach Scott Stricklin. “I thought both starting pitchers got off to good starts and then there was the delay and they came back from that. In the fourth, their hitters did the job with two outs and runners on base. When you play a good team like Texas A&M, you can’t give them extra outs and you have to take advantage of your opportunities. They did, and we didn’t when we had a chance to score.”
The Bulldogs were held to three hits, singles by Meadows, Cam Shepherd and Adam Sasser. Shepherd credited the Aggies starter with being able to locate three pitches as the key for his effectiveness.
Georgia sophomore third baseman/closer Aaron Schunk saw his career-best 22-game hitting streak end after going 0-for-4. It was the longest active streak in the SEC. Before the game, Georgia senior Keegan McGovern received the 2018 Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award that was announced Monday. In the bottom of the third, the game was delayed 58 minutes due to lightning and rain.
Georgia (37-18) will be in action Thursday at 10:30 a.m. ET against either fourth-ranked Ole Miss (42-14) or No. 21 Auburn (38-19). The loser of Wednesday’s game between the Rebels and Tigers will face the Bulldogs in an elimination game.