[su_spacer size=”20″]
The Georgia Bulldogs scored three runs in their final two innings of the game to secure a 6-3 victory over Appalachian State Tuesday at Foley Field.
Senior Taylor Hicks got the start for the Bulldogs for the first time since he was a redshirt freshman in 2012. Hicks threw five solid innings, allowing just one run on six hits, while striking out two. Hicks pitched well, but he did not figure in to the decision. In relief for Georgia, freshman Bo Tucker returned from a groin injury that had held him out of the previous seven games. Tucker threw 1.2 innings, giving up two runs on two hits. Senior Zach Waters notched his first career win with a scoreless inning of relief. Senior Jared Cheek picked up his fourth save after securing the final four outs.
The Mountaineers (5-10) struck first with one run in the first and held that lead until Georgia tied up the game in the fifth. Freshman Keegan McGovern led off the fifth with a blast over the right-center wall for the first Bulldog run of the day. It was Georgia’s 14th home run of the season, which topped last year’s season total of 13 home runs. Dillon Dobson drove in three runs for ASU including a two-run home run.
[su_spacer size=”20″] [su_spacer size=”20″]Georgia (11-5) then took the lead in the sixth inning on a Zack Bowers solo home run to left field. It was Bowers’ sixth of the season, which ties him for the lead in the SEC. Appalachian State tied the game back up in the seventh on a home run, but Georgia quickly took back the lead for good on a Skyler Weber single in the seventh. It was his 12th RBI of the season, tying his total from last season. Junior shortstop Nick King had another productive day, going 3-for-4 including a two-run triple, his first as a Bulldog, to provide the final margin in the eighth.
“We started slowly, we didn’t really have good at-bats, and through the first two innings their starter had thrown only nine pitches,” Georgia head coach Scott Stricklinsaid, “Just not a very good start offensively, but we got locked in the third time through the order, and we ended up having a lot of good at-bats. We finished strong, scoring runs in the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th innings. We also played great defense today, that is the defense that we have grown accustomed to and everybody on the mound did their job.”
[su_spacer size=”20″]
Sophomore Stephen Wrenn, who was 2-for-3, has reached base safely in all 16 games while King has now reached safely in 12 of his last 13 plate appearances. Senior first baseman Jared Walsh singled in the sixth to extended his hitting streak to 13 games.
[su_spacer size=”40″]
All photos by Sean Taylor