Given the unpredictability of college baseball, it’s not often that teams can take care of their business in the manner that Georgia did this weekend against UIC.
The Bulldogs were certainly impressive.
Sunday’s 17-3 win, stopped after six innings due to a 2 p.m. time limit, was the latest strong showing against the Flames, who were outscored by Georgia in the four games 51-11.
Five home runs carried the day for Georgia (8-1), including one by sophomore Tre Phelps to help him get off of his early-season slide.
Meanwhile, Bulldog pitchers scattered seven hits over six innings, with DJ Radtke receiving the win after a scoreless 1.2 frames. Jordan Stephens dominated the final two innings with five strikeouts to receive credit for the save after entering the game in the fifth with Georgia up just 6-3.
Georgia’s 10-run sixth put the game away.
“Even though we went down again early, I liked our swings all day,” Johnson said. “You can start to see a little bit yesterday guys are getting a little more and more comfortable with their approach that we've got them in against certain types of pitchers. You got to tip your hat.”
It was certainly a good day to be a hitter.
Georgia pounded out 16 hits in its six innings against the Flames (1-7), getting home runs from Phelps, Robbie Burnett, Daniel Jackson, Ryan Black, and Henry Hunter.
For Phelps, the home run was big for several reasons.
The sophomore has mostly struggled early, starting the year just 5-for-37 before taking a pitch to right field for a three-run home run in the sixth.
“Sometimes those kinds of events are what make a guy get on a hot streak so he can start seeing the ball,” Johnson said. “(Saturday) in his last at-bat, he lined out to right. I looked at Coach (Will) Coggin, and I said if we can get a little more of that right-center approach with him, our guys love to call it the T-Mobile approach just because of the sign out there. If we can get a little more of that, I think the game will slow back down for him and he'll get off some good swings, so it was good to see that.”
After UIC started the game with two runs off of JT Quinn in the first, Georgia responded with a natural cycle to start the bottom of the inning to take a 4-2 lead.
Black – who would later homer – started it off with a single on the first pitch, followed by a double to left by Slate Alford. Burnett tied the game with a triple to right, bringing up Jackson who homered high over the fence in left.
The runs continued in the second when Black lined a pitch over the fence in right, followed by a solo shot by Hunter in the fifth and Phelps in the sixth.
Sunday’s staff day allowed five Bulldog pitchers to get in some weekend work.
Several impressed.
Radtke threw 1.1 solid innings to remain unscored upon in 4.2 innings, while the hard-throwing Stephens had his best outing of the year after coming with a runner on first and nobody out.
Stephens struck out all three batters he faced, topping out at 98 mph and, more impressively, throwing his breaking pitches, including a splitter, for strikes.
“We put in a lot of hard work with him, and in all facets of the game, not just his breaking ball and his split that he was able to execute today,” Johnson said. “But not just that. We’ve talked about controlling the running game and being comfortable doing all those kinds of things, fielding your position. It was really, really nice to see him be under control today.”
Georgia returns to action Wednesday when it travels to Georgia State.
News and Notes
…With his start in right field, Daniel Jackson has started games at three different positions over the first nine games, including catcher and first base.
…Three more Bulldogs were hit by pitches Sunday. Georgia players have now been hit 25 times in the first nine games.
…Georgia with three more steals today giving the team 17 for the year. The Bulldogs had 22 in 60 games last season.
…Ryland Zaborowski’s RBI single in the sixth was his 15th of the season, tops on the team.
...Freshman Erik Parker collected his first collegiate hit in the sixth inning.
