Until Georgia’s starters gain some needed consistency, the bats are going to need to carry the day.
Such was the case in Sunday’s finale against Jacksonville as the Bulldogs scored in all but two innings, easing to a 10-5 win and take the weekend series 2-1.
“We had a lot of guys on base and had a chance to break it open, which will come as guys get a little more comfortable,” head coach Scott Stricklin said. “But bottom line, I think we put a lot of pressure on their defense.”
With left-hander Eli Zielinski on the mound for Jacksonville State,, Georgia went with an all-right-handed lineup, that had Mason LaPlante moving to the leadoff spot, with freshman Justin Thomas taking over in center field for Ben Anderson. Josh Stinson, meanwhile, made his first career start, opening the game in left.
The plan worked as the top four batters in the lineup went a combined 8 for 16 with five runs scored and six RBI.
“I think that might be the first time we’ve been able to do that (have an all-right-handed starting lineup). It was just one of those things. Justin Thomas has a chance to be a star, he’s just a really talented player, a hard worker, and has earned the right to play, while Josh Stinson has just showed up every day and just gotten it done,” Stricklin said. “All those guys deserved to play, and today we had those lefties on the bench ready to go.”
LaPlante, Connor Tate, Parks Harber, and Charlie Condon each had two hits for the Bulldogs, with Harber homering for the second time and Condon driving in three runs for the second straight game.
“I hit leadoff and second at Yale, so it was nothing really new,” LaPlante. “Our offensive philosophy is just to hit the ball hard, and that’s what we did today and yesterday, just putting together go at-bats.”
Freshman starter Blake Gillespie breezed through the first three innings for Georgia, allowing just one run on one hit, but was unable to get through the fourth.
Four straight batters reached for the Gamecocks, with all four ultimately scoring to tie the game at 5 before Nolan Crisp (1-0) came out of the bullpen to strike out Derrick Jackson with runners at second and third to end the inning.
“It was a tough situation there, 5-5, and bases loaded,” Crisp said. “I had to come in and make some good pitches right off the bat.”
Stricklin liked what he saw.
“(Crisp) was kind of the guy we had penciled in starter all along for Sunday, but to be quite honest he did not pitch that well in January and early February,” Stricklin said. “We made the decision to go with (Gillespie). Crisp handled it well, although he wasn’t happy, I didn’t expect him to be happy. What we saw was him having a chip on his shoulder, maybe being a little bit upset, kind of like ‘Hey, look at me.’ But that was exactly what I hoped to see. He won the game he deserved it.”
After Jacksonville State (1-2) tied the game in the fourth, the Bulldogs (2-1) would go to work again.
A pair of RBI from Condon sandwiched around a throwing error by third baseman Caleb Johnson pushed the Bulldogs ahead 8-5.
Crisp made sure the Gamecocks did not get any more.
The senior right-hander took in the fourth and blanked Jacksonville on two hits with five strikeouts before Kyle Greenler took over in the eighth with Georgia up 10-5.
Greenler followed with a scoreless eighth before Dalton Rhadans closed out the game with a scoreless ninth.
Georgia returns to action on Friday for a four-game set against Princeton that included a doubleheader Saturday.
