Georgia’s bats made sure its double header Saturday was a successful venture as the Bulldogs totaled 23 runs to sweep Dayton by the scores of 10-7 and 13-1.
Head coach Scott Stricklin liked what he saw.
“I thought everybody had really good at-bats and took advantage of some of their mistakes. A couple of times we got in a rundown, somehow got out of it, and later in the inning we hit home runs,” head coach Scott Stricklin said. “A lot of our guys performed today, and that helps us with our depth. This will keep the pressure on the starters, because everybody wants to play. The offense certainly helped the starting pitching, which I thought was outstanding in all three games. All three starters got wins.”
Will Proctor’s first start of the year in Game 1 and the second of his career was certainly nothing to complain about.
The right-hander mixed his pitches well, allowing just four hits with no walks and a career-high nine strikeouts before coming out in favor of Zac Kristofak after giving up a leadoff single to start the sixth. Proctor allowed two runs, although only one was earned.
“Obviously, you’re a little nervous going into it, especially this being my first time being a starter at home. But once I got out there, it’s just pitching,” Proctor said. “All the people up on the hill cheering for us, it was wild. I was looking to throw as many strikes as possible, and I thought I did a good job at that, with all three of my pitches.”
Offensively, LJ Talley (3-for-5, four RBI) and Patrick Sullivan (1-for-4, three RBI) led the offense with a home run each, both two-run shots that extended the lead to 7-2 for Georgia, which earlier saw Tucker Bradley (2-for-4, two RBI) bring home a pair with his first career triple.
Leading 9-4 on another pair of RBI's from Talley and Sullivan, Dayton had a chance to climb back into the game after loading the bases in the seventh with one out against Kristofak, forcing Stricklin to turn to junior lefty Justin Glover. After going 0-2 on cleanup hitter Eddie Pursinger, who homered in the fourth inning, Glover enticed the Flyers’ second baseman to bounce into a 1-2-3 double play ending the inning.
After adding another run in the seventh, Georgia turned to touted freshman Cole Wilcox with one out in the eighth.
A projected first-round draft pick last June before telling teams he intended to honor his commitment to Georgia, the 6-foot-5, 235-pound power pitcher quickly showed what the fuss was all about, hitting 97 mph with his first pitch. Wilcox would ultimately allow a hit, but came back to strike out the next two Dayton batters to end the inning.
Unfortunately, the ninth didn’t go so well.
Dayton struck Wilcox for three runs on three hits, forcing Stricklin to turn to closer Aaron Schunk, who retired the two batters he faced to pick up his first save for Georgia, which collected 11 hits in Game 1.
Game 2 in Saturday’s twin bill was no contest.
Especially with the way starter Tony Locey was pitching.
Locey struck out a career high 10 batters in 6.1 innings, while the offense was led by Cam Shepherd (3 for 5 with three runs), Schunk (3 for 4 with three doubles), and Riley King (2 for 4, three RBI). Sullivan also drove in three runs in Georgia’s Game 2 win.
“I’ve been playing with (King) since I was in high school, and I’ve always known him to a grinder. He’s a kid that goes out and works every day, and he tries to be the best player he can be and just soaks up information,” Schunk said. “It might be new to some people, but we’ve seen him playing well before. You can ask anybody on the team, we’re all his number one fan right now because of all the work he’s put in and how he’s getting to play now.”
Georgia returns to action Tuesday at Kennesaw State.
