For six innings, freshman Emerson Hancock lived up to the hype.

Throughout preseason, coaches and teammates alike have marveled at how easy the lanky right-hander was making it look, and for the first two-thirds of Saturday's game against Georgia Southern, the visiting Eagles no doubt agreed.

Unfortunately, the Bulldog bullpen weren't in a protecting mood as the Eagles struck for eight runs over the final three innings, easing to an 8-3 win.

Hancock certainly deserved a better fate.

The Cairo native was magnificent in his collegiate debut, scattering two hits with just two walks and five strikeouts in six innings. But Georgia's offense - which enjoyed so much success on Friday, took a Saturday siesta.

"Surprisingly, I wasn't as nervous as I thought I was going to be," said Hancock - who topped out at 96 mph according the right-center field scoreboard. "I've always said I'm nervous until the first pitch, but once I get through that I'm just out there pitching and going to work."

After scoring 22 runs on Friday, the Bulldogs picked right up in the first inning, scoring twice, with Michael Curry using a sacrifice fly to drive in a run followed two batters later by Aaron Schunk who came through with an RBI single to right-center field.

Georgia skipper Scott Stricklin felt the Bulldogs should have scored more.

"We had (Seth) Shuman on the ropes," he said. "He was struggling to get settled in, but to me the key to the game was in the second inning, he had a five-pitch inning and all of a sudden he's sitting in there rested and relaxed."

Hancock, meanwhile, showed what the preseason fuss was all about.

After giving up a single to Steven Curry leading off the game, the Eagles took very few healthy swings, managing just two hits against the former Cairo standout, who threw 92 pitches before being replaced by Will Proctor (0-1) to start the seventh.

"To me, he still wasn't as sharp as we've seen him," Stricklin said of Hancock. "That's pretty scary to think. He goes six scoreless as a freshman, he was very, very good but there's more in there. His breaking ball is better than what he showed today, but he went to the changeup in the fifth and sixth which helped him get through those innings."

A converted infielder, Proctor never made it out of the inning after the Eagles scored on a throwing error by Austin Biggar before getting pulled following a walk to Austin Thompson to put runners at first and third.

Unfortunately for Georgia, new pitcher Ryan Webb fared no better. After giving up an RBI single by Steve Curry to tie the game, Mitchell Golden followed with a two-run double to left putting the Eagles in front 4-2.

Biggar's error was the fifth in two games for Georgia, which also twice failed to come through at the plate during a key moment in the seventh that perhaps could have turned the contest back into their favor.

"That's very surprising. Our defense is going to be very good; it hasn't been so far and that's been disappointing," Bulldog skipper Scott Stricklin said. "The two errors today gave them two runs and it was just a matter of guys trying to be too aggressive. Defense has got to clean up. We've got to help our pitching staff better than that."

The Bulldogs cut the lead to one in bottom of the seventh and had a chance to regain the lead with runners at second and third and one out, but failed to do so when reliever Chase Cohen struck out both Tucker Bradley and Keegan McGovern to end the threat.

"We had a chance to tie the game and you've just got to put the ball in play," Stricklin said. "Cohen is very good. They brought him in exactly for that situation and he came up with some clutch pitches. You've got to put the ball in play, but you've also got a pitcher out there who's trying to keep you from doing that and he won those battles."

Shuman (1-0) settled down to match Hancock after a difficult first.

The sophomore surrendered three hits in the first but held the Bulldogs hitless after that, walking just one with four strikeouts before being replaced by Cohen in the seventh.

Georgia Southern pushed back ahead by two in the eighth after Bradley misplayed a hit into Southern’s fifth run, a margin Cohen made sure would stand by blanking the Bulldogs over the final two innings to pick up his first career save.

The Eagles capped the scoring with three runs in the ninth of Blake Cairnes.

NEXT UP:

Georgia and Georgia Southern wrap up their series Sunday at 1 p.m. Chase Adkins (6-7, 3.95 ERA in 2017) vs TBA.