After two games where just about everything imaginable went wrong, Georgia’s 9-8 win over College of Charleston Sunday was big for several reasons.
For one, it certainly beat the alternative.
“I don’t think anyone in our dugout slept very well the last couple of days. The thing that was tough was we know we’ve got a good club, we’ve got talented players but we just weren’t playing very well. And you’re playing a good team like College of Charleston that’s not going to give you any breaks,” Georgia skipper Scott Stricklin said. “That’s a veteran team that knows how to win, but we needed that win. Our kids needed that win, the program needed the win, and now we have some momentum going into Tuesday."
Freshman third baseman Aaron Schunk made sure it was a game he won’t forget.
After going 0-for-6 in the first two games, Schunk was dropped to ninth in the lineup and responded by going 3-for-5 with five RBI.
“This is a game of ups and downs. Three games into the season isn’t a big deal, but as a competitor it kind of hurts when you get off to a bad start,” Schunk said. “But I came out today, tried not to do anything different, stay relaxed, hit the ball the other day and it turned out alright.”
He wasn’t the only freshman to boost his batting average.
Catcher Austin Biggar followed up Saturday’s two-hit performance with two more on Sunday, including a three-run homer to put the Bulldogs up 3-1 in the second.
The Bulldogs (1-2) would need every one.
With Georgia leading 9-7 in the ninth, the Cougars (2-1) appeared to tie the game off Tucker Bradley after a double by Dixon Bradley sent Dupree Hart home from second. Erven Roper made the turn from third in an attempt to tie the score.
He never made it.
Logan Moody hit cutoff man Cam Shepherd who turned and threw a strike to Biggar, who nailed Roper at the plate for the first out with Bradley moving to third. He stayed right there.
After Tucker Bradley struck out Joey Mundy for the second out, Stricklin brought in freshman Christian Ryder who froze Danny Wondrack with a breaking ball for strike three to end the game.
“After back-to-back elevated fastballs, I knew if I started the breaking ball up, he wasn’t going to swing at it. I was ready for that pitch call,” Ryder said. “I had never closed a game in my life. I’ve been a starter my entire life, but there’s nothing better than getting your name called in a big situation. I was ready for it.”
Chase Adkins (1-0) gave Georgia’s pitching staff a much-needed boost.
After struggling the first two games – an effort that included a combined 17 walks – the transfer from Chattahoochee Valley Community College proved to be much more on point.
The junior right-hander scattered nine hits and was charged with five runs, but did not walk a batter and struck out seven before giving way in the sixth to freshman Zac Kristofak who tossed a pair of scoreless innings.
It helped that Georgia’s bats got off to a good start of their own.
Down 1-0, the Bulldogs backed Adkins with four runs in the second, three coming on Biggar’s three-run homer to right. Two batters later, Schunk’s first-career hit drove home L.J. Talley to make it 4-1 off starter Max McKinley (0-1).
A solo homer by Cougar right-fielder Joey Mundy cut the lead in half. But Georgia and Schunk were not done as the former Lovett standout touched reliever Will Detwiler for a two-run double in the bottom of the fourth, pushing Georgia’s margin to 6-2.
The Cougars cut the lead to 6-5 in the sixth to chase Adkins, but Schunk wasn’t done yet. He came through with a two-run single in the inning’s bottom half to make it 8-5 for Georgia, which collected 14 hits, including an RBI double by Keegan McGovern, who went 3-for-3 and scored three runs.
“After the game on Saturday we just talked about taking a breath and playing the game you’ve been playing all of your life,” Stricklin said. “Play the way you want to play it instead of trying to force things. I think we were over-anxious but I thought that our at-bats today were much, much better.”
NOTES: Georgia returns to action on Tuesday when the Bulldogs travel to Mercer. … By going 2-for-4, first baseman Adam Sasser is now 6-for-9 to start the year.
