Georgia’s baseball team is starting to raise some eyebrows on the national scene.
After sweeping South Carolina in Columbia over the weekend, the Bulldogs saw significant jumps in the major polls, ranging from No. 5 to No. 11.
Tuesday’s 11-1 rout of Georgia State, the Bulldogs’ 10th-straight victory, continued the positive vibes.
“It’s a lot of confidence going around,” right fielder Riley King said. “Definitely this past weekend at South Carolina showed we’re the good team we know we are. Tonight, coming out here, putting some runs across. It’s a really good feeling. All of us are going out there knowing we can get the job done.”
Tuesday’s win was considerably easier for Georgia (19-2), which topped the Panthers (7-14) 6-3 last Tuesday in Atlanta.
After getting two quick runs in the second, the Bulldogs added three in the third and four more in the fourth, allowing Stricklin to give most of his starters an early night off.
“When you look out on the field in the ninth inning, we’re still a very good baseball team; we’ve got depth on this team,” head coach Scott Stricklin said. “I was encouraged, especially by the way we pitched and played defense. It was tough to get into a flow, but we drew 10 walks, hit some balls hard that didn’t fall for us, but bottom line, we put up 11 runs and played very well.”
Tim Elliott continued to excel as Georgia’s midweek starter.
The junior right-hander improved to 3-1 on the year, beating the Panthers for the second time in as many weeks. Last week in Atlanta, Elliott allowed just one hit and one unearned run in six innings to earn the victory, and Tuesday scattered three walks and three hits over five innings to pick up the win.
“I talked to Coach (Sean) Kenny about that before, asking if I’m facing these guys again, what do you want me to do? Elliott said. “He said just do the same thing; my stuff is better than theirs. We really didn’t change my approach at all.”
After Elliott left, the bullpen kept the score right there with Darryn Pasqua and Logan Moody tossing scoreless innings each before Adam Goodman gave up the Panthers’ lone run in the eighth. Freshman Jack Gowen closed out the game in the ninth by setting the Panthers down in order, including a couple of strikeouts.
Offensively, Connor Tate and King both had big days.
King went 2-for-4 with three RBI, extending his team lead to 25. Tate went 1-for-5 with his first career home run to give the Bulldogs an early 2-0 lead in the second.
That was just the beginning as Georgia extended its lead to 9-0 in the fourth before tacking on two more in the seventh on a pair of bases-loaded walks, two of 10 free passes the Bulldogs received in the game.
“Our guys expect to win, but not in a cocky way,” Stricklin said. “We went to South Caroline expecting to win, and we can’t teach that, but to have that experience with guys who have been around, we know we’re a good team.”
NOTES: Cam Shepherd’s fourth-inning walk gave him 24 for the year, the most in the SEC. … Right fielder Tucker Maxwell was given the afternoon off to rest a sore hamstring. He is expected back in the lineup Friday against LSU. … Shane Marshall returned to action after missing the South Carolina series with a sprained shoulder that he suffered in Georgia’s game against Presbyterian March 9. … Georgia returns to action Friday night at 7 for the first of three against LSU.
