With every game that Jonathan Cannon takes the mound, he continues to prove he’s one of the best starting pitchers in the Southeastern Conference.
Friday night’s effort against No. 14 Florida was yet another example as the junior right-hander fired six innings of five-hit ball to lead Georgia (21-6, 5-3) to a 6-1 win.
“The command was a little bit off with some of my pitches, especially early on,” Cannon said. “I was trying to work through the fastball and everything, but I just made do with what I had today and was able to grind it out.”
Cannon walked two and struck out three. While those numbers were something Bulldog fans have been accustomed to, the Georgia ace also proved his moxie in the fifth and sixth by getting out of a pair of huge jams.
The fifth saw Florida put runners at first and second with SEC leading home run hitter Jud Fabian at the plate. Cannon struck him out swinging to end the inning.
His sixth-inning Houdini act was even more impressive.
Florida loaded the bases with nobody out, but Cannon escaped unscathed, retiring three straight batters to end the inning and keep the score 0-0.
“The biggest thing in a situation like this is not look at the situation as a whole, because you can get overwhelmed if you think about bases loaded and nobody out,” Cannon said. “You’ve just got to throw one pitch at a time, just try to get yourself out of it and keep executing.”
Cannon lowered his ERA to 1.71 in 47.1 innings.
“It was unbelievable,” said first baseman Parks Harber, who went 2-for-r with three RBI. “Even though they had the bases loaded I still thought we were going to get out of it. He just made some really, really good pitches and trusted his defense.”
Energized by Cannon’s sixth-inning escape, Georgia’s bats came alive in the inning’s bottom half.
With runners at first and third, Chaney Rogers pushed a bunt to third. Fabian tried to make a quick scoop and tag, but the ball bounced away allowing pinch runner Buddy Floyd to slide in with the first run.
That brought up Harber who lined a rope off of Brandon Sproat (3-3) to the wall in left, scoring Josh McAllister and Rogers for a 3-0 lead.
Jack Gowen took over for Georgia in the seventh and had to wriggle out of trouble to keep Georgia in the lead.
Credit his defense for that.
With runners at second and third, Sterlin Thompson hit a short fly to Connor Tate in left. Tate made the catch and threw the ball to McAllister, who got the ball in time to catcher Fernando Gonzalez. Gonzalez put the tag on Mac Guscette to end the inning.
The Bulldogs iced the game with three runs in the eight, including an RBI double by Gonzalez, who went 2-for-4.
Chaney Rogers led Georgia’s 11-hit attack by going 3-for-3.
Gowen, who allowed a solo home run in the eighth to Wyatt Langford, pitched a scoreless ninth for his third save.
Unfortunately for head coach Scott Stricklin, he wasn’t around to witness the win. He was ejected to start the top of the third.
In the bottom of the second, Georgia had runners at first and third when Gonzalez lined a ball that appeared to be heading up the middle for a clean base hit.
However, the ball hit second base umpire Brandon Bennett resulting in a dead ball and the bases loaded.
Stricklin came out to argue the call, before ultimately heading back to the dugout.
But when Cory Acton struck out to end the inning, Stricklin came back on the field and was immediately ejected by home plate umpire Matthew Wilbanks.
Georgia’s head coach sounded contrite after the game.
“It was just emotion. I was just angry,” said Stricklin, who added it was the first time he’s been thrown out of a game in six years. “That was the rule. If it (the ball) hits the umpire in front of the infielder’s, it’s a dead ball – period. I just let my emotions get the best of me. At home plate, I was just fighting for our guys.”
NOTES:
… A second-inning walk by Cannon was his first no-intentional one of the year in 42.2 innings.
… Ben Anderson’s third-inning single extended his streak of reaching base to 25 games.
… Saturday is Alumni Day at Foley Field.
… Friday’s attendance was 3,671.
… Stricklin did not announce a starter for Saturday’s 2 p.m. finale.
… Florida fell to 18-9, 3-5 in the SEC with the loss.
… Stricklin said pitcher Liam Sullivan threw two innings of intrasquad before the game. “He looked really good. It was very encouraging,” Stricklin said of Sullivan who has missed three straight starts. “He threw two innings today and I was very encouraged. You wait and see how he feels (Saturday), but his body language is good. He threw about 35-40 pitches. His velocity was back. He looked really good.”
