For those who continue to wonder how Georgia is proving to be one of the country’s better teams, the answer is really quite simple.
It's starting pitching and defense.
Check out these numbers. On Sunday, the fourth-ranked Bulldogs completed another eye-opening SEC series victory, with Tony Locey and Zac Kristofak combining on a one-hitter in a 3-2 win over No. 5 Vanderbilt, who managed just seven runs off Georgia (27-6, 9-3) in the three games played.
“All our starters went seven this weekend. I think we all deserved to win,” said Locey, who allowed just the one hit with three walks and five strikeouts in seven innings. “I threw last Saturday, so I had an extra day of rest, so I was loose and just letting it go. After that Coach (Sean) Kenny, said, ‘Ok, you threw it, let’s start pitching a little bit.’”
That’s just what he did.
Locey threw a season-high 117 pitches before giving way to Kristofak, who retired all six batters he faced (two strikeouts) to pick up his second save.
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Along with Locey (5-0), similar efforts by Emerson Hancock on Friday and C.J. Smith on Saturday pushed the overall numbers of Georgia’s starters this year to 20-2, with an ERA of 2.13 (43 earned runs in 181 innings).
“They’re carrying this team. It’s really cool to see,” Kristofak said. “From Emerson, to C.J., to Tony, all those guys threw really good this weekend.”
The job Georgia was able to do against the top three in Vanderbilt’s lineup of Cooper Davis, Austin Martin and JJ Bleday cannot be overlooked, either.
Arguably the top third of any lineup in the SEC, Davis entered play batting .357, Martin .440 and Bleday .353 with a league-best 12 home runs. Against Georgia pitching, the trio went 3-for-36, with Martin going 0-for-13 with just one RBI.
“I looked at my notes. I had the spray chart for the whole series, and when Martin led off the ninth I just kind of glanced through it and noticed he didn’t have a hit, he was 0-for. I thought to myself, ‘Oh no, just forget about that’ so when he got out Coach (Mitch) Gaspar said he’s 0 for the weekend, which is huge because he’s a big leaguer,” head coach Scott Stricklin said. “Bleday I think is the best hitter in the country, I think he’s a first-round pick. He’s a really good player. To be able to take away the middle of their lineup, which is really good, it’s hat’s off to our pitching staff.”
Defensively, the Bulldogs continue to not only make the routine plays, but this weekend could be counted on for the spectacular plays as well.
A great running catch by Riley King robbed the Commodores of an extra-base in the seventh inning, before first baseman Chaney Rogers made a nifty snag in the ninth on a smash by Bleday behind the bag, out-running the Commodore right fielder for the second out.
“He was definitely a big guy, and I knew he was going to try and hit one hard,” Rogers said. “I was playing close to the line, he hit it, and I just reacted to it, got my glove there.”
Offensively, the Bulldogs did just enough against Vandy freshman Kumar Rocker (2-4), son of former Georgia and current Tennessee football assistant Tracy Rocker,
Georgia reached the big right-hander for three runs, two coming in the second on an RBI double by Rogers and a single by Randon Jernigan, before adding its third and final run in the sixth on a single by LJ Talley.
With next week’s series at Tennessee marking the halfway point in conference play, the Bulldogs will not only head to Knoxville with a two-game lead over Vanderbilt in the SEC East, but a one-game lead for the best record in the conference.
“I think our guys know we’re a pretty good team. I think we’ve proven it just by losing Friday nights against LSU and Vanderbilt, 1-0 and 3-2. Emerson Hancock, arguably the best guy in the country, loses two heart-breakers and our team bounces back against LSU and Vanderbilt, two top-five teams,” Stricklin said. “I think it shows our team is a pretty tough team. We are beat up, but we are overcoming.”
Georgia returns to action on Tuesday when the Bulldogs host arch-rival Georgia Tech. First pitch is set for 7 p.m.
