At this time of year, teams with hosting aspirations in the NCAA Tournament just want to stack wins any way they can.
How? It doesn’t matter.
So, although Georgia managed just four hits, the Bulldogs made them count, easing past Missouri on Saturday night, 5-2.
With the win, the Bulldogs continue to climb the SEC standings, improving to 38-11 overall, 14-9 in SEC play.
Georgia’s league mark currently has the Bulldogs fourth in the SEC standings, two games behind second-place Arkansas and one game behind third-place LSU.
Texas, which the Razorbacks swept, leads the SEC with a conference mark of 19-5.
The win - Georgia's fifth straight - also enabled the Bulldogs to even their road record at 8-8 for the year.
Missouri, meanwhile, fell to 0-23 in the conference, which was the worst start in SEC history.
Georgia has won six of its eight SEC series and will go for the sweep on Sunday. However, head coach Wes Johnson isn’t ready to start patting his team on the back yet.
“I told our guys we hadn't done anything. I mean, you know, tomorrow's a new day. Nobody cares,” Johnson said. “These guys are going to come out and fight again tomorrow. They're going to fight you.”
Fortunately for Johnson, his Bulldogs are showing some good fight themselves.
Kolten Smith followed Brian Curley’s outstanding effort on Friday with a good one of his own.
The right-hander went five innings, allowing a two-run homer to Cayden Nicoletto in the first, but after that, he retired the next 12 hitters he faced.
He allowed just two hits, two walks, and struck out seven.
“I thought Kolton made a good pitch. He (Nicoletto) got off a good swing, and even the pitch before, (Kayden Peer) just hit a chopper in the four-hole,” Johnson said. “But after that, I thought Kolton really settled in.”
The Bulldogs needed Smith to be as strong as he was.
For the second straight game, Georgia’s bats were slow to start as the Bulldogs trailed 2-1 in the sixth before sending 10 batters to the plate to go up 5-2.
A two-run home run by Daniel Jackson – his 10th – put the Bulldog ahead before bases loaded walks to Robbie Burnett and Cade Brown.
Georgia’s bullpen made sure the lead held up.
Davis issued a leadoff walk in the bottom half of the sixth with Alton Davis Jr., who allowed just one hit and struck out two in keeping the Tigers off the board in the sixth.
Give left fielder Nolan McCarthy a tip of the cap.
With Jackson Lovich on second, Kaden Peal singled to short left field. Lovich tried to score, but McCarthy threw a strike to Henry Hunter, who made the tag to keep the score 5-2.
“Yeah, big play by him. I mean, you look at what he did tonight, he had a big double down the line, kind of get some things jumpstarted; he got hit by a pitch later,” Johnson said. “Nolan's just a veteran in this league. You can't put a price on what he does and how important he is for this team. But, yeah, that was a big throw out right there. It was big.”
JT Quinn and Zach Harris did the rest.
Quinn retired six of the seven batters he faced with three strikeouts, with Harris getting the save after a 1-2-3 ninth. Bulldog pitchers combined to strike out 14.
“Alton Davis was sharp. JT Quinn, I thought, was super sharp,” Johnson said. “Zach Harris, you know, he looked like a closer in this league. He was really relaxed. He executed three pitches right there in the strike zone, threw a really good changeup, a really good slider, and then his fastball had elite run and command on it.”
Georgia and Missouri wrap up their series Sunday at 2.
