With runners at first and third, two outs in the top of the ninth, and leading No. 1 Arkansas by a skinny run, Wes Johnson strode to the mound. Reliever Matthew Hoskins looked him square in the eye.
Hoskins wasn't about to come out of the game.
"I don't know what he said, but I told him, I was like, we're getting this done," Hoskins said. "I said I've got this. We're going to win."
Hoskins would be proven correct.
With the count 3-2, Razorback catcher Ryder Helfrick attempted to check his swing. He was not successful. Hoskins and first baseman Ryland Zaborowski immediately pointed to umpire Zach Neff, who rang up Helfrick, allowing Georgia to hang on to the 7-6 win.
"I thought (he went); I wanted it," Hoskins said. "I really wanted it; I can tell you that much."
Zaborowski did as well.
"I saw it right away. But you know, there are just times where guys miss calls, and it happens," Zaborowski said. "But I wanted to make sure that I had Hoskins' back. I kind of like stop for a second. I was like, no, he definitely went. It was a fun one."
Trailing by two in ninth, the Razorbacks drew within one run on a wild pitch by Charlie Goldstein and, after a single off the glove of Zaborowski, had runners on first and third with nobody out.
But Hoskins would escape the inning to save the game.
A groundout to short and a grounder to second were followed by a walk before Hoskins closed the door.
"We had a couple guys in the pen ready to go, but man, he was pretty convincing," Johnson said. "I usually I don't get too emotional when you go out there to meet in those tight situations, if the move's the move, we do it. But yeah. (Hoskins) was very convincing; he got it done.
Starter Kolten Smith gave Georgia (31-6, 9-5) just what it needed on the mound.
The right-hander allowed just two runs on five hits with one walk and eight strikeouts before coming out to start the fifth.
This time, the Bulldogs’ bullpen did their job.
DJ Radtke gave Georgia a solid 2.2 innings before allowing two runs in the eighth on a two-run home run by Kuhio Aloy. The Razorbacks would put two runners on after that, but Goldstein would come out of the pen to escape further damage by getting leadoff hitter to line out to center.
As they did on Friday, the Bulldogs jumped out to a 3-0 lead, tallying a trio in the runs in the first inning, two on an RBI single by Zaborowski.
A two-run homer by Robbie Burnett in the second and a solo shot by Zaborowski in the third padded the lead.
It could have been more, but the Bulldogs stranded runners at second and third in the fifth after just one out before Johnson turned the game over to reliever Davis Chastain to start the sixth.
He wasn’t around for long. Following a leadoff double by Cam Kuzeal, Aloy followed with a single to put runners at first and third.
Johnson did not waste any time, turning immediately to Radtke.
The righty did well. After a strikeout, Radtke allowed a run to score on a fielder’s choice before striking out Carson Boles to end the inning. But the Bulldogs would answer again, scoring on an RBI double by Ryan Black to go back up by four.
Being able to answer three of Arkansas' scores with runs of their own made Johnson proud.
"That's what I just kept telling our guys. Part of the pregame was, we got a punch, man. Just cuz somebody scores, it's a nine-round fight, however you want to put it, whatever analogy you want to use," Johnson said. "When you get punched, you gotta punch back, and I thought we did that really well. I challenged them to go up and do that, and they responded."
Georgia and Arkansas conclude their series on Sunday at 1.
"The thing about our league, and I've said it a lot, baseball in general, it's not like football where you get a big win, and you get six days," Johnson said. "We've got to turn right back around and play. We're going to be right back out here in less than 24. It's just like I told them right after the game: eat, sleep, hydrate, get ready to go, and let's come back, respect the game and keep playing hard."
