The Georgia baseball Bulldogs swept a doubleheader over the No. 11 Florida State Seminoles at Foley Field Saturday in front of 2,826 fans.
The series victory is Georgia’s first over a top 25 opponent this season and first since they took two of three from then No. 7 South Carolina May 2-4, 2014 at Foley Field.
Offensively, the Bulldogs (5-1) combined for 14 runs on 14 hits in the two contests. On the mound, Georgia’s starters yielded three runs 9 hits in 12 innings of work on the day.
“That was a satisfying (series) win, no question about it,” head coach Scott Stricklin said following game two. “We came into this weekend saying ‘We need to win this series.’ Certainly you can’t win every game and you can say ‘what if’ about last night. The bottom line is our kids came out today after losing a tough one last night and swept a doubleheader from a nationally ranked team and that’s exciting for all of us.
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Game 1: Georgia 4 , Florida State 1
Junior left-hander Ryan Lawlor (2-0) made his second start of the year, going six innings, allowing two runs on four hits and tied his career high in strikeouts (10) to lead the Bulldogs to a 4-1 victory.
The Bulldogs used a three-run fourth inning to topple the Seminoles. Sophomore Skyler Weber (1-for-4, run scored), Zack Bowers (1-for-3, walk, run scored), and Jared Walsh (2-for-4, home run, 3 RBIs) led Georgia offensively as they combined for three of four runs and four RBIs.
The Georgia bullpen continued its strong start to the season as freshman Bo Tucker and senior Jared Cheek combined to allow just one hit in three innings of work.Tucker made his second career appearance allowing a hit, striking out two in two innings. Cheek notched his first save of the season retiring the final three Seminole batters in order in the ninth.
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Boomer Biegalski (1-1) took the loss in his second start this season for Florida State. The sophomore went seven innings, allowing three runs on four hits, walking two and striking out four. Derek Vail, Taylor Folsom and Jim Voyles combined to finish the home half of the eighth for the Seminoles. The trio allowed one run on one hit, walking three.
After three scoreless innings, Georgia broke the stalemate with three runs on three consecutive hits from Weber, Bowers, and Walsh. After Weber singled, Bowers roped a double to left field to plate the first Bulldog run. Completing the trifecta, Walsh crushed a pitch over the fence in right field to extend the Georgia lead to 3-0.
The Seminoles responded the next half inning, getting their first run of the afternoon on the strength of two hits and a sacrifice. After a single and a double from Ben DeLuzio and Darren Miller, respectively, Danny De La Calle’sbrought home DeLuzio via a sacrifice fly to center.
Both squads went scoreless the next two frames and in the eighth inning Walsh’s second multi-base hit, a double brought in Stephen Wrenn from third, capping off the victory.
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Game 2: Georgia 10, Florida State 5
In the rubber game of the series after FSU won Friday, Georgia’s 13-hit offensive outburst propelled them to a 10-5 decision.
After DJ Stewart gave the Seminoles a 2-0 lead in the first, Trevor Kieboom (3-fo-5, home run, RBI, run scored) brought Georgia to within a run with a towering blast over the left field wall, his first as a Bulldog.
Along with Kieboom, Keegan McGovern (3-for-5, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 2 runs scored) and Stephen Wrenn (2-for-3, RBI, BB) combined for five of Georgia’s 10 runs in the contest.
Georgia took the lead for good with back-to-back three run innings in the fourth and fifth innings. In the fourth, the Bulldogs used three hits, a walk and passed ball to take a 4-2 lead, and in the fifth tallied on three more runs on the strength of four hits, a bases loaded walk, and an error.
Florida State would rally with a three-spot of their own in the seventh, but Georgia answered with two runs after the stretch, and an inning later added one more for the final.
David Sosebee (2-0) got the win, allowing two runs on five hits in five innings. After giving up a two-run home run to Stewart, Sosebee retired the next 12 of 19 batters, including eight strike outs over his final four innings to set a career high. Walsh, Drew Moody and Connor Jones pitched the final four innings.
Cobi Johnson made his second career start for Florida State going four-plus innings, allowing six runs on seven hits and fell to 1-1. Following Johnson, the Seminoles used six different relievers to finish the final six innings of the weekend.
Georgia returns to action on Tuesday when they play host Presbyterian in a mid-week, non conference game. First pitch is slated for 4 pm EST.
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