With a daunting road trip ahead to top-ranked Vanderbilt, the last thing Georgia coach Scott Stricklin wanted to see was his team’s bats go cold against in-state rival Georgia Southern.
Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened.
The Eagles held Georgia to just four hits and used a two-out ninth-inning homer by Christian Avant off Darryn Pasqua to post a 2-1 win.
A solo home run by Mason McWhorter accounted for the Eagles’ other run.
“They pitched really well, they played great defense and got two balls up in the jet stream that carried out, unfortunately,” Stricklin said. “We had a couple of chances, but just couldn’t get the hit to drive the runs in.”
Some poor base running didn't help matters.
The Bulldogs twice hit into double plays on fly balls to the outfield. These turned into two outs when the base runners failed to get back to the bag in time.
That included the fourth inning when designated hitter Corey Collins was doubled off second on a fly ball to short center field by Riley King.
“You just can’t do it; there’s not a whole lot you can do,” Stricklin said. “These catchers that come to college, they don’t run the bases in high school. It drives me crazy to watch it, but none of these catchers run the bases; they've gotten courtesy runners since they were 10 years old, so when they get on the bases, it’s an adventure sometimes.
“Corey’s just got to continue to learn. He’s made some base running mistakes, but he’s such a good hitter, and he’s going to be a great player; he’s just going to have to continue to focus in batting practice and work on getting live reads as much as he can, to get some reps.”
Starting pitcher Hank Bearden was a bright spot for the Bulldogs, who fell to 18-10.
The freshman retired all nine batters he faced with three strikeouts, before McWhorter’s home run off Jaden Woods in the sixth tied the game at one.
“He threw three pitches for strikes, he worked really fast, and he commanded that breaking ball behind in the count,” Stricklin said. “His fastball was 90-91; I thought he was excellent today.”
Unfortunately, the Bulldogs provided little support.
Georgia managed just four hits off three Eagle pitchers, none off reliever Braden Hays, who tossed 3.1 innings of hitless relief.
The Bulldogs’ lone run scored in the fifth on a single by Cole Tate.
