If 7th-ranked Georgia does indeed go on to earn a Top 8 national seed—which would assure the Bulldogs of hosting a Super Regional should they get that far—Saturday’s 10-8 win at Auburn in Game 2 of a doubleheader will no doubt be a victory that helped get them there.
Head coach Scott Stricklin agreed after his Bulldogs (39-14, 18-9) bounced back from a 4-3 loss in Game 1 to win the series, 2-1.
“This was big-time,” Stricklin told UGASports. “It keeps our RPI very high; we’re going to be in the Top 6 RPI for sure. We’ve got three games left to go, and we’ve already matched our win total. Our record is really, really good. There’s a lot of really good teams out there, but if we can finish strong—we’ve got another big weekend at home—if we can somehow win another series and get to 20 wins, I think we’re a lock for a national seed.”
Georgia hosts Alabama for three starting Thursday, in what will be the final regular season series before beginning play in the SEC Tournament that begins May 21 in Hoover.
Give shortstop Cam Shepherd a big pat on the back for helping the Bulldogs to their first series win on the Plains since 2006.
The Bulldogs led 7-2, only to see the Tigers come back and tie the game before some eighth-inning magic allowed Georgia to claim the much-needed victory.
After Auburn senior Blake Schilleci retired the first two batters, it appeared to be only a matter of time before the Tigers would be back with another turn at the plate. But Chaney Rogers and Randon Jernigan—a pair of freshmen—had other ideas.
Rogers and Jernigan both reached with singles, bringing up Shepherd, who homered over the right field fence for a 10-7 lead, stunning the Plainsman Park crowd of 3,340.
"I was getting some good pitches to hit, and although it didn't always show up each time, I thought I was having some good at-bats in the series,” Shepherd said. “I felt like I was getting some good swings. On my last at bat, I hit one down the right field line just foul, and I decided if I got another one, to make sure I put another good swing on it. I did, and it went out. I felt like the balls were flying out of here this weekend."
Stricklin was left impressed.
“(Shepherd) has really swung the bat better these last five or six games. I’m just really excited about him, but what about those freshmen?” Stricklin said. “You’ve got two freshmen and a senior on the mound; they get hits with two out, and Cam knocks it out of here.”
Reliever Zac Kristofak was the grateful recipient of the support.
Kristofak enabled Georgia to get out of even more trouble in the sixth when he recorded two outs with runners on first and second after the Tigers (30-21, 13-14) had scored four times to draw within 7-6.
Auburn would tie the game in the seventh off Kristofak (4-0), who pitched the final 3.2 innings, striking out five with just one walk.
Offensively, Georgia out-hit Auburn 12-11 in Game 2, led by Shane Marshall (3 for 4), Rogers (2 for 4), and Riley King (2 for 4) with Aaron Schunk coming through with a first-inning three-run homer to put Georgia up 3-0.
Game 1 of the doubleheader saw Georgia fall 4-3 in 10 innings, a game that marked the return of Emerson Hancock after missing his most recent two starts with a sore right lat.
Although Hancock didn’t pitch his best, he wasn’t bad, either.
The sophomore righty went 6.2 innings, allowing four hits, three runs with three walks and four strikeouts before coming out with two out in the seventh.
“He wasn’t as sharp as we’ve seen him, but that was kind of to be expected. The arm strength was there, he touched 97, so he was really good, but just a little rusty,” Stricklin said. “It’s pretty unbelievable to say with what he was throwing out there that he wasn’t at his best. We all know he can be better, but man, he is so good, and the bar is set really high when he goes out there to pitch.”
Hancock threw 94 pitches in the game, and according to Stricklin, felt fine after its completion.
“He feels good, the second game he was feeling good and out there rooting for the guys,” Stricklin said. “We’re looking forward to getting him back on the mound next weekend.”
Georgia fell behind 1-0 in the second before Mason Meadows connected for a solo home run in the second inning to tie the game.
The Tigers would add two in the fourth to go up 3-1, until John Cable homered in the fifth to cut the lead to one before tying the score in the sixth on an RBI double to left.
Cole Wilcox (2-1) replaced Hancock in the seventh and pitched well before giving up the game-winning run in the bottom of the 10th.
