Bullet dodged: Before and during Tuesday's game
Georgia held off Georgia State 10-7 Tuesday night at Foley Field, but the final score was not the biggest story emanating from the Bulldogs’ clubhouse at Foley Field.
After the game, head coach Scott Stricklin revealed the Bulldogs came extremely close to not playing the contest at all.
Apparently, issues with Covid-19 were the culprit.
“We were down several guys today. Everybody’s healthy, nobody’s suspended, everybody’s being good,” Stricklin said. “But use your imagination—we’ve got several guys who were out because of this 'thing’ that we’re dealing with right now.”
Although he did not mention it by name, sources confirm Stricklin meant Covid-19.
“We’re a little shorthanded. We were a little nervous about today’s game. We were waiting on a phone call today. We were a phone call away from not playing tonight, and maybe not this weekend. That’s how scary this thing is,” Stricklin said. “But we’re good to go. We’re able to play this weekend. We’re a couple of guys short, but those guys will be back. The guys who were not able to play tonight will be able to play on Sunday.”
Of Georgia’s starting lineup, the only change was at catcher where Corey Collins made his first start in place of Shane Marshall and Fernando Gonzalez. Garrett Spikes replaced Collins at designated hitter.
Several pitchers who ordinarily would have seen action also did not play in the game.
At least on this night, the Bulldogs did not miss their absentees, although after taking two of three at Vanderbilt, the last thing Georgia wanted to do Tuesday was to kill its momentum with a poor showing against Georgia State.
A ninth-inning hiccup caused a few anxious moments, but the Bulldogs regained their composure to hold off the Panthers. Georgia State scored five in the ninth before Liam Sullivan recorded the final out.
“Saturday at Vanderbilt, we told them to enjoy the win, but when they woke up (Sunday morning), the calendar switches over to a new week, and we’ve got to get better and be ready to play Georgia State,” Stricklin said. “We talked about needing to keep that momentum, so yeah, we obviously talked about it.”
The Bulldogs (21-10) started quickly.
Georgia jumped out to a 5-0 lead, the key hit a base-clearing triple by Chaney Rogers, followed by an RBI single by freshman Parks Harber.
Luke Wagner started on what was another “staff day” for the Bulldogs.
The freshman gave up one run in 2.2 innings before turning the game over to Hank Bearden (3-0) with two out in the third.
Beard would strike out three in 2.1 innings, followed by Michael Polk with a scoreless inning and Darryn Pasqua, who gave up a run in the seventh to bring the Panthers to within 6-2.
The Bulldogs added four more runs in the seventh, and it turned out Georgia needed every one of them.
Georgia State struck for five runs in the ninth, before Sullivan coaxed the final out to win the game.
Collins and Cole Tate each had three hits to lead Georgia’s 13-hit attack.
“Our guys got some big hits, and we were able to score late there on some walks,” Stricklin said. “Bottom line, the offense is doing pretty well, and I thought the pitchers were pretty good tonight. It’s just unfortunate we gave up some runs there in the ninth.”
This and that
…Corey Collins’ second-inning single extended his hitting streak to six games, his longest of the year.
…Freshman Max DeJong made his Bulldog debut after being delayed by injury, and pitched a scoreless eighth with two strikeouts.
…Redshirt freshman Brandon Smith also made his season debut after recovering from Tommy John surgery, but did not record an out, allowing four of Georgia State’s ninth inning runs.
“That’s a big deal for him to get back on the mound,” Stricklin said of Smith. “The last time he was on the mound under the lights, his elbow blew up. I’m proud of him. He was up to 94 mph. It didn’t work out the way he wanted to, but it was good to see him back out there.”
…Georgia returns to action Friday for the first of three games against Kentucky.
