For Georgia to feel good about its spot as a top 8 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, Saturday’s regular-season finale against Texas A&M is going to matter. A lot.
That’s because Aggie pitcher Justin Lamkin turned in the best game of the year, scattering three hits with a season-high 15 strikeouts, pitching Texas A&M to a 6-0 win Friday night at Foley Field.
Only one Bulldog got as far as third base. Lamkin only allowed one extra base hit, a double to Nolan McCarthy. Georgia did not have a leadoff batter reach base the entire game.
Lamkin (4-7) did not walk a batter and only went to three balls on a Bulldog hitter once the entire game.
However, head coach Wes Johnson feels his team should have done a better job.
“Tip your cap to their guy, but offensively we were not very good at all,” Johnson said. “It's probably one of the worst offensive nights I've been a part of. Since I've been here, our hitters ... they weren't ready. I'll wear some of that, but that won't happen tomorrow. But yeah, I mean, we’ve got to be better offensively, man. You can't miss five-zone heaters. For us, that's the balls right down the middle. You can't miss sliders in the strike zone. You've got to get up there ready to swing, and be ready to hit the baseball, and we didn't do a very good job of that.”
Johnson spent an atypical 10 minutes talking to his team in the dugout after the game.
“I'm not a big meeting guy. But there are times I think you’ve got to have them, and tonight was one of those,” Johnson said. “I mean, you can't come out flat.”
Fortunately for Georgia, the Bulldogs, who continue to hold the nation’s top RPI, still control their destiny as far as the coveted national seed is concerned.
A win Saturday would give Georgia an 18-12 record in SEC play. Historically, 18 victories have assured teams of a Top 8 seed, which would allow the Bulldogs to host through the Super Regionals in their quest for a trip to the College World Series.
Leighton Finley (2-2, 5.30) will face Aggie lefty Myles Patton (3-4, 5.16) in Saturday’s all-important game. First pitch is set for 12:03.
“It’s huge. I mean, we're back here at 8 a.m., so we've got what, 11 hours to get this off our minds and fix what we need to fix, whether that's approach, toughness, whatever it is. This is a big game,” McCarthy said. “Getting to 18, it's going to be huge, because playing a Super here … I talked about it earlier this week, it's the biggest thing for this team. We know we can win on the road, but we know if we're here with our fans, it's a great environment to play in. I got to do it last year, and I want nothing more this year. I want to play in front of our own fans. The trip to Omaha's not easy, so playing here in front of our guys is going to be really important for us.”
Georgia played the game without senior Robbie Burnett, who injured his leg trying to beat out an infield hit on Thursday.
Burnett said later he was fine, but Johnson said the outfielder was held out of the game for precautionary reasons.
“Robbie could have played tonight. I mean, he could have pitch-hit,” Johnson said. “We have to be careful. It is a tweak. Hamstrings are very, very unique things. If you push a guy where you could have him back 100 percent in a week, if you push him now and he hurts it further, he could miss the postseason. So, I'll reevaluate him a little more tomorrow. Maybe we can get him in the game to hit, but I don't know. We'll see.”
The game was a grind for starting pitcher Brian Curley (4-3), who struggled with his location during the early innings.
The right-hander walked the bases loaded in the second before escaping unscathed. He wasn’t so lucky in the third.
After a one-out walk to Jace LaViolette, Wyatt Henseler hit a liner off the glove of first baseman Christian Adams. Instead of an easy double play, the hit brought Gavin Kash to the plate. The Aggie first baseman responded with a three-run homer for a 3-0 lead.
“He said he was struggling a little bit with the feel of his heater, and he was just trying to get a feel of it,” Johnson said of Curley, who walked four and allowed four hits. “But if you’re going to be a No. 1 (starter) in this league, you can’t go through those kinds of struggles. Against good teams, if you do, you’re going to get the results you go today.”
The Aggies (28-24, 11-18) weren’t done.
A home run by Bear Harrison off Matthew Hoskins in the eighth made it 4-0 before the Aggies tacked on two more in the ninth to account for the final score.
