[su_spacer size=”20″] Every Bulldog starter scored a run as part of a 16-hit attack as Georgia routed Kentucky 12-3 Saturday at Cliff Hagan Stadium to even an SEC baseball series.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Georgia (23-26, 8-17 SEC) fell behind 1-0 in the first and then roared back with 12 runs off the Wildcats. Georgia built a 9-1 lead by the fifth inning, scoring two runs in the second, third and fourth before getting three runs in the fifth to chase right-hander Dustin Beggs. The Kentucky right-hander had gone four straight outings with at least eight innings pitched, but Saturday he allowed nine runs (six earned) on 11 hits to fall to 7-3.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Freshman Mitchell Webb (3-for-5) got the Bulldogs going with a two-out infield single in the second. Sophomore Skyler Weber (4-for-5, 3 doubles, 4 RBI) followed with a game-tying RBI-double and junior Nick King (2-for-3, 2 RBI) gave Georgia a 2-1 lead with a run-scoring single. Sophomore Stephen Wrenn (3-for-5, 2 RBI) blasted his team-leading eighth home run to lead off the third, and later in the frame, junior Daniel Nichols added a sacrifice fly for a 4-1 lead. In the fourth, freshman Trey Logan’s RBI-single made it 5-1, and Wrenn smacked an RBI-double for a 6-1 advantage.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Georgia junior left-hander Ryan Lawlor provided five innings of two-hit baseball but struggled with his command, issuing a career-high six walks and left with a 9-2 lead. While Lawlor got the win to move his record to 5-6, senior Jared Cheek came in and went four scoreless innings for his sixth save.
[su_spacer size=”40″] “Ryan (Lawlor) never could get comfortable out there, but he found a way to give us five innings and then Jared Cheek came in there and threw strikes and did a good job the rest of the way,” Georgia coach Scott Stricklin said. “All in all, one-through-nine everybody contributed with hits, RBI, moving runners and that’s great to see. (Dustin) Beggs is very good, we just got to him today, and he had a bad day. Our guys had very good at bats, and it led to a productive day at the plate.”
[su_spacer size=”40″] Georgia scored three runs in the fifth, one in the seventh and two in the eighth while the Wildcats got single runs in the fifth and sixth for the final in front of a crowd of 2,214.
[su_spacer size=”40″] The series concludes Sunday with first pitch at 12:02 pm and be televised by the SEC Network and available on the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network from IMG.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Photo Credit: Sean Taylor/UGA Sports Communications