(Photo by John Kelley)
The Georgia baseball team was swept by the Aggies as the third-ranked Texas A&M defeated Georgia Sunday by as score of 10-2 in front of a Blue Bell crowd of 5,673.
After getting swept at top-ranked Florida last weekend, the Aggies (25-7, 7-5 SEC) returned to College Station to post three wins over the Bulldogs and improved to 20-1 at home this year. Georgia fell to 17-16 overall, 4-8 in the SEC.
Georgia sophomore left-hander Bo Tucker made his first career start and was cruising until two outs in the third. After getting ahead of J.B. Moss 0-2, he reached base on a walk. Tucker mishandled a grounder by Nick Banks to allow him to reach and then issued a walk to Boomer White that loaded the bases. First baseman Hunter Melton made it 4-0 with a grand slam. Melton is tied for the conference lead in home runs with eight. In the fourth, the Aggies added three runs with two outs on a two-run single by Moss and an RBI-single by Banks for a 7-0 lead. Texas A&M loaded the bases with nobody out in the fifth, and junior Drew Moody limited the Aggies to a sacrifice fly. He pitched 1.1 innings before giving way to Blake Cairens. Aggie left fielder Joel Davis added a solo home run in the seventh to make it 9-0.
Aggie right-hander Kyle Simonds ran his record to 6-1, pitching 8.2 innings and scattering seven hits, two runs, two walks and seven strikeouts. Tucker (3-3) took the loss after surrendering seven runs (three earned) on six hits in 3.2 innings.
“That’s what a great team looks like; they are really talented, a veteran presence throughout their lineup, and they played very well all weekend,” Ike Cousins Georgia Baseball coach Scott Stricklin said. “It’s hard to win when you score only two runs today and three all weekend. We weren’t very sharp and you have to play extremely well to beat them because they are not going to beat themselves.”
Bulldog senior Nick King ended the Aggies shutout bid with a solo home run in the eighth. It was Georgia’s first extra base hit of the series after 16 singles. Then in the ninth, Stephen Wrenn capped a 3-for-4 day with his second home run of the year. Also, it continued a stretch of solo shots as Georgia’s last 14 home runs have been of that variety. It was King’s second career home run and the 10th for Wrenn. Bulldog sophomore Keegan McGovern saw his on base streak end at 23 games after going 0-for-3.
Georgia returns to action Tuesday in Atlanta when it faces No. 24 Georgia Tech (23-8). First pitch will be at 6 p.m. and be available on ESPN3 and the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network from IMG.