Bats come alive in Sunday rout
LAWRENCEVILLE – Following back-to-back losses to Georgia Tech, Georgia head coach Scott Stricklin challenged his team’s toughness prior to Sunday’s finale at Coolray Field.
Corey Collins and Parks Harber were apparently paying attention.
The duo each hit a homer and combined for seven RBIs to lead the No. 14 Bulldogs past the No. 19 Yellow Jackets, 12-3.
“We'd gotten punched in the face two days in a row; it hurt,” Harber said. “I’m glad we bounced back the way we did today. It kind of shows our resiliency.”
Harber went 2-for-3 with a career four RBIs, with Collins going 2-for-3 with three RBI and three runs scored for the Bulldogs (9-2), who established their season-high in runs scored after being shut out Saturday at Foley Field, 7-0.
“I feel like today we came out loose,” Collins said. “We just took it upon ourselves to come out and have fun out there. There were a lot of fans, and it was kind of calming. We felt comfortable at the plate, we swung at good pitches, were aggressive, and it showed up on the scoreboard.”
The Bulldogs struck for a run in the top of the first, rallying after two outs to ultimately score when Harber walked with the bases loaded against Marquis Grissom Jr. (1-2).
Grissom wasn’t around for a long.
The freshman righty was on a pitch count of 50 and never made it out for the third.
Harber did not mind.
Following a one-out single by Cole Wagner, Harber launched a fastball by lefty Josiah Siegel over the fence in left field for a two-run homer and a 3-0 lead.
“We just needed a big hit. It was 1-0, we were kind of just scuffling along and we needed some breathing room,” Stricklin said. “Connor (Tate) had hit one right before him that looked like it was going to carry out. You were kind of shrugging your shoulders, then Parks did it and that just kind of loosened guys up and gave us a little bit of a lead.”
Bulldog starting pitcher Garrett Brown wasn’t at his best but made big pitches when the situation called.
Thanks to three walks, Georgia Tech stranded five runners over the first three innings, including two in the third.
Luke Wagner replaced Brown in the fourth and gave up a two-out solo homer to Stephen Reid.
Georgia would answer in the fifth with Collins’ third home of the year, a line drove over the wall in left-center field.
Wagner (4-0) made sure the score stayed right there.
In the bottom of the fifth, a pair of walks and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases for the Yellow Jackets with only one out.
But thanks to Wagner, Georgia Tech (10-2) did not score as the sophomore lefty struck out Drew Compton on three straight pitches before getting Colin Hall looking at a 2-2 changeup to end the threat.
“Garrett is still coming back from Tommy John; that was just his third outing,” Stricklin said. “He’s got really good stuff. He’s 6-foot-7 and it’s 93-94 with a lot of life. We just need to keep putting him out there. The more he gets out there, the better he's going to be.”
Lefty Collin Caldwell escaped a jam of his own in the sixth.
Like Georgia did in the first, Georgia Tech mounted a rally in the sixth on a single and hit-by-pitch. Tech’s Kevin Prada followed with an RBI single on the ninth pitch from Caldwell. But after an intentional walk, Caldwell retired Tres Gonzalez on a bouncer to Harber at first ending the inning.
After Georgia’s six-run seventh, Davis Rokose, Hank Bearden and Jack Gowen closed out the Yellow Jackets, allowing one run over the final three innings.
An RBI single by Fernando Gonazlez and an error by Compton at third in the ninth capped the scoring for Georgia.
NOTES: There’s some bad news apparently on Bulldog pitcher Dylan Ross (arm). Stricklin said afternoon it does not appear he will be back anytime soon, although a final decision has not been made. … Wagner’s four wins have come in just 9.1 innings.
NEXT UP: Georgia returns to action Tuesday at SRP Park in Augusta against Georgia Southern, before traveling to Statesboro on Wednesday for a second game against the Eagles.
The Bulldogs return to Foley Field Friday for the first of three against Lipscomb.
