WHAT: Georgia vs Arkansas, SEC Tournament
WHERE: Hoover Met, Hoover, Ala.
WHEN: Wednesday, 5:30 p.m.
RECORDS: Georgia 31-23, Arkansas 42-10
TV/RADIO: SEC Network; Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Jeff Dantzler, David Johnston)
Drama? There was plenty of that for Georgia Tuesday night in the first round of the SEC Tournament, which for all practical purposes was a must-win situation if it wanted to become of the 64 teams to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
After beating LSU 4-1 at the Hoover Met, the Bulldogs can breathe a little bit easier. The victory sends Georgia into the double-elimination round of the tournament, starting Wednesday at 5:30 against top-ranked and No. 1 seed Arkansas.
“Absolutely. I think we're absolutely in. I had said ... this was virtually a play-in game,” head coach Scott Stricklin said. “The SEC is one of the best conferences in the country, and you can't argue that, and we should be most represented in the NCAA Tournament. I hope the top 64 teams get in, and LSU certainly deserves to get in.”
Chaney Rogers, whose bases-clearing double in the first sparked a four-run first for the Bulldogs (31-23), agreed.
“It was honestly a do-or-die game for us, and we came out ready to play. We came out the first inning, punched them in the mouth, and the pitchers held them,” Rogers said. “It kind of got a little squirrelly there late, kind of got a little nervous, but they held them, and we got the W."
Squirrelly was a good way to put it.
Twice the Bulldogs had to wiggle out of bases-loaded, one-out jams to keep the Tigers at bay.
In the fourth, the Tigers had the bases loaded and just one out before Jaden Woods struck out the final two batters to send the Bulldogs back into the dugout up by three.
Then came the fourth.
Despite Woods (4-1) retiring all 10 batters he faced, Stricklin turned to pitcher Ben Harris, who quickly worked himself in a bases-loaded, one-out jam of his own. However, like Woods, he would escape the threat. Harris struck out Zach Arnold and Drew Bianco to escape before Jack Gowen set LSU down in order in the ninth to close out the game for his first save.
“We trust Ben. That's why we put him in there. Jaden got us to that point, and then Bennie was done after the 8th. He gassed himself and found a way to get through that, and then Jack Gowen got it done. There's obviously some second-guessing when it doesn't go exactly the way you want it to go, but we felt like that was the right move,” Stricklin said. “Coach (Sean) Kenny, Coach (Scott) Daeley, and I, we all talked about it. We felt that was the right move, and it worked out.”
Starter Luke Wagner pulled a Houdini act of his own in the first.
LSU loaded the bases with nobody out, but Wagner escaped the inning with just one run scoring. The freshman lefty enticed a double play off the bat of Cade Doughty with nobody out, and after a walk, struck out Bianco to end the inning.
“It was great to see. A young guy like that. I mean, you get loaded bases against LSU, no outs. They had a huge crowd, and they were all yelling and screaming at him,” Rogers said. “For him to get a double play out there was huge for us. I honestly think it gave us a bunch of confidence rolling into the next inning.”
It showed.
After Riley King tied the game with a fielder’s choice, Rogers followed two batters later with a ringing double to right, clearing the bases and giving Georgia a 4-1 lead.
Wagner would walk a tight rope for the next 2.1 innings, before Woods came on with runners at first and third with one out. He would escape the threat, however, getting a double play on a strikeout of Alex Milazzo with Fernando Gonzalez throwing out Bianco's attempt to steal third.
Meanwhile, LSU pitcher Landon Marceaux would settle down after giving up four runs in the first. The Tiger ace settled down after the first inning, holding the Bulldogs scoreless over the next seven.
Woods, meanwhile, was spotless.
The young lefty retired all 10 batters he faced with five strikeouts before Stricklin surprisingly took the former Houston County standout out despite throwing just 48 pitches.
“I felt very comfortable out there. I saw it just like any other game,” Wood said. “Just like I go into every game throwing strikes, that's pretty much it. Because I feel if you don't throw strikes, you're not going to get any progression from your team."
With the loss, it marked the first time LSU was eliminated from the SEC Tournament without a win since 2005.
“I give a lot of credit to Georgia, especially their pitching. They ran three really good left-handers out there against us today, and obviously we couldn't do much with them,” LSU head coach Paul Mainieri said. “We had an opportunity in the first inning, bases loaded, nobody out, and we were only able to get one run out of it. That really was kind of the story of the game.”
NOTE: Stricklin said he was leaning to freshman Liam Sullivan getting the start against Arkansas. In his first career start, Sullivan went six innings, allowing just three hits and one earned run with one walk and a career-high 11 strikeouts in a game the Razorbacks won 3-0. “Most likely, Liam Sullivan. It's one-day short rest for him. We haven't decided at 100 percent, but that's probably who we'll go with,” Stricklin said. “Everyone in Fayetteville saw him Friday night under the lights. He pitched really well last time out. He's a freshman and big arm. His last three outings have been really good for us.”
