Friday night’s series opener between UMass and No. 3 Georgia turned into an unexpected battle of wills.

It wasn’t until the eighth that the Minutemen (1-6) finally blinked. That’s when the Bulldogs (12-2) broke open a scoreless game with five runs to post a 5-0 win before an announced Foley Field crowd of 2,261.

“I didn’t think our hitters competed very well tonight,” Georgia skipper Scott Stricklin said. “Certainly, our pitching was great, but offensively and defensively, we very easily could have lost that game.”

But thanks to the five-run eighth, that didn’t happen.

Georgia’s first run came in the form of a gift, when shortstop Chris Pearson’s throw on a grounder off the bat of Cam Shepherd sailed past first allowing Ben Anderson to score the first run, before tacking on four more, on RBI singles by pinch-hitter Connor Tate, Patrick Sullivan and Mason Meadows.

“It took us a while to get going, but I think everyone here knows we’ve got to be a lot better,” Sullivan said. “We didn’t play that well on Tuesday, and tonight we came out again kind of flat. We need to come out ready to go (Saturday).”

Unfortunately, starting pitcher Emerson Hancock wasn’t around to get credit for the win, coming out with one out in the eighth inning after throwing 102 pitches.

The junior was brilliant, allowing just three hits with no walks in 7.1 innings, tying his career high with 12 strikeouts. This despite pitching in temperatures that hovered in the mid-40s—lower than that when you include the wind chill.

“I feel like the weather has been the same for me every game,” Hancock said. “When you first get out there, it’s kind of cold, but when you get running around, it’s not bad.”

Hancock would have gone longer, if not for a pair of early errors by the defense and a wild pitch on a swinging strike three to extend another inning.

“Emerson Hancock probably pitches a complete game if we just make two routine plays and catch a strike three,” Stricklin said. “That was 12 extra pitches, and we had to take him out of the game. So, we’ve got to be better defensively, we’ve got to be better offensively.”

UMass starter Sean Harney came in with a 7.00 ERA, but nevertheless matched Hancock pitch for pitch over the first seven innings.

In fact, Harney (1-2) didn’t give up a hit until a one-out single in the fourth by Tucker Bradley, the first of three batters to reach, loading the bags for Sullivan. However, Harney would escape the threat when he got Sullivan to line out to deep left-center field with Ryan Coleman running down the ball on the warning track to end the threat.

Georgia’s best opportunity to score off Harney came in the sixth, when Shepherd led off with a double before moving to third on a wild pitch with nobody out.

But he stayed right there.

Bradley couldn’t get him home, popping up to short left field with Garrett Blaylock and Chaney Rogers both grounding out to first to end the inning.

The Bulldogs stranded another runner in scoring position in the seventh, after Kaden Fowler led off with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice by Sullivan. Fowler would get as far as third base on a long fly ball by pinch-hitter Cole Tate, but was left stranded when Buddy Floyd flied out to end the inning.

“Sean Harney out-competed us,” Stricklin said. “That’s what I’m disappointed in. I didn’t think our hitters competed very well tonight, while Harney competed for them. He threw some 3-2 breaking balls, and he threw his fastball in and out.”

Georgia’s failure to execute would ultimately give Hancock the win, after he was pulled by Stricklin with a runner at first in favor of Ryan Webb.

Webb (2-0) would ultimately allow a single and hit Nolan Kessinger with a 3-2 pitch, but came back to strike out Anthony Videtto to strand the bases loaded and send the game to the bottom of the eighth, still scoreless.

Freshman Michael Polk closed out the game with a scoreless ninth.

Boxscore

…With his fourth-inning single, Tucker Bradley has reached base in all 14 games.

…Anderson’s fifth-inning single gave him a nine-game hitting streak. He has also reached safely in the last 13 games.

…Hancock’s 12 strikeouts marked the sixth time in his career he’s reached double-digits and the second game in a row after fanning 10 last week against Georgia Tech.

Freshman pitcher Jonathan Cannon is not expected to pitch this weekend, and likely won’t until next week’s SEC-opening series at top-ranked Florida, after spraining his left ankle, Stricklin confirmed after the game.

Cannon suffered the injury after he stepped on a baseball during batting practice.

The freshman has been a major cog in the Bulldog bullpen after starting his career with 11 scoreless innings, allowing just four hits, two walks and 12 strikeouts.

The biggest hit of the night arguably came off the bat of Meadows, whose two-run single in the eighth extended Georgia’s lead to 5-0.

It wasn’t so much the two RBI, but the hit could not have come at a better time for Meadows, who came in hitting just .118 with two hits in 17 at-bats.

“It was nice to see him get a hit. Mason’s such a great guy and a good teammate,” Sullivan said. “It was nice to see him get that hit and get some confidence for himself.”

Stricklin said Thursday he was actually considering resting Meadows to “clear his head” before inserting him into the game after starting catcher Shane Marshall was pinch-hit for in the seventh.

Georgia and UMass continue their three-game series Saturday at 2. Cole Wilcox (2-0, 2.00) will face off against lefty Ben Shields (0-1, 4.00).