If Georgia learned one thing about newcomer pitcher Dylan Ross Sunday, it’s that the Statesboro native is a grinder.

The 6-foot-5 right-hander certainly proved that during Sunday’s 9-1 win over Albany to sweep the three-game series.

Ross’ fastball control was a bit of an issue, and the Great Danes took advantage by putting runners on base in each of his five innings.

But with the exception of a fifth-inning sacrifice fly, Ross was able to escape unscathed, ultimately scattering four hits and two walks to go along with six strikeouts to earn his first victory.

“I think the work I put together in the fall really helped me keep a level head,” Ross said. “I think nerves were a part of it, pitching in front of a large crowd like this, but I was able to settle in and give us the best shot I could.”

There was certainly nothing wrong with Ross’ arsenal.

Along with a fastball that topped out at 95 mph, the Statesboro native was able to keep Albany hitters off-balance with a variety of breaking pitches.

“I think in the fall he might not have gotten through that,” head coach Scott Stricklin said. “He might have been out in the second inning because the command wasn’t quite there. But he really, really settled in, and I thought his last two hitters that he faced may have been the best pitches that he threw all might.”

Mississippi State transfer Davis Rokose took over for Ross in the sixth and wasn’t bad himself.

In fact, the lefty could not have been much better. Ross retired all nine batters he faced on just 32 pitches, striking out two. Michael Polk closed out the game with a scoreless ninth.

“That was great. Again, you don’t know what to expect,” Stricklin said of Rokose. “It’s his first time in a Georgia uniform. He’s a Georgia kid who came back home. We tried to get him out of high school, and he decided to go somewhere else, but we were more than happy to get him back.”

After winning Friday 4-2 and needing a two-out hit in the bottom of the ninth to win Saturday’s game 7-6, making a Sunday statement was foremost on everyone’s mind.

“We say it all the time: good teams win series, great teams sweep,” Stricklin said “That was the challenge for our team, to make sure we came out and gave some offensive support for Dylan Ross. It’s his first start out here."

Offensively, Georgia (3-0) stranded five runners over the first two innings before a two-run double in the third by Fernando Gonzalez and in the sixth by Cory Acton put the Bulldogs ahead 6-1. Josh McAllister put the icing on the afternoon with a bases-clearing double in the eighth.

A solo home run by freshman Cole Wagner added to the damage.

“It’s very important when you come from a close game. You have to make a statement early on Sunday. It creates the tempo and that momentum,” Gonzalez said. “I think we really did a good job, the whole team, to do that in the very first inning.

Boxscore

… Graduate Ben Anderson missed Sunday’s game after tweaking his groin in Saturday’s 7-6 win.

He was replaced by redshirt freshman Dwight Allen II, who started for the first time in his career.

After the game, Stricklin did not sound like Anderson would be out for long.

“He’s good. He took BP,” Stricklin said. “If it’s Georgia Tech, he’s playing; if it’s SEC, he’s playing. He was probably at 85-90 percent, it was just being explosive with taking off and that’s the last thing we wanted to do was tweak that. He should be ready to go Tuesday.”

… Next Up: Georgia returns to action Tuesday afternoon against Wofford. First pitch is set for 5 p.m.