Ninth-inning heroics carry Bulldogs to a dramatic win
Dillon Carter said it might have been the biggest hit of his life.
Who’s to argue? Especially after his home run in the bottom of the ninth inning deep over the wall in right field sent Georgia to a 7-6 win over Northern Kentucky Saturday afternoon at Foley Field.
“That was up there,” said Carter, whose homer capped a four-run inning for the Bulldogs. “My memorable moments are usually on defense, so getting one on offense was pretty dang cool.”
He wasn’t the only hero.
Georgia trailed 6-3 headed to its final turn on the plate when a three-run homer by Kolby Branch tied the game following a pair of walks to Clayton Chadwick and Sebastian Murrillo.
“I was just looking to put a good swing on something,” Branch said. “I was sitting slider. He threw me two, but then he threw me a fastball. That wasn’t the plan at all.”
Maybe not for reliever Jake Johnson, who gave up both blasts, but it suited the Bulldogs just fine.
Carter jumped on a 3-1 pitch and sent a no-doubter blast over the fence in right, bringing teammates pouring onto the field.
“That was a great at-bat by Branch,” Carter said. “I got to see a lot of pitches before I came to the plate, and I was able to make the most of it.”
The victory also showed something head coach Wes Johnson, whose previous five games all resulted in routs, scoring 10-plus runs each time.
“You always build on stuff like this,” Johnson said. “It’s always good to look back and be able to tell your guys we’re never out of a game, no matter what.”
Kolton Smith picked up the win for Georgia (6-0), despite allowing four runs in five innings after entering the game to start the fifth.
Charlie Condon also homered for the Bulldogs, his third of the year for Georgia.
After scoring 15 times in the first inning on Friday, until the ninth, runs proved much harder to come by in Saturday’s second game.
It figured. Northern Kentucky starter Clay Brock wasn’t exactly bringing the heat himself.
With Brooks only topping out at 81 mph, Georgia’s bats were kept a little off balance, although the Bulldogs did strike for a run in the second on an RBI single by Fernando Gonzalez to score John Marant from third.
Condon’s home run pushed the score to 2-0 in the third.
After walking three in his debut last week against UNC-Asheville, Christian Mracna struggled with his location, walking three in 3 1/3 innings. Johnson pulled the right-hander in the fourth after an error by first baseman Logan Jordan scored a run with runners moving to second and third.
Fortunately for the Bulldogs, Georgia Southern transfer Zach Harris escaped the inning.
Leadoff hitter Treyvin Moss did Harris a favor by fouling out to third before Condon made his nice play behind the bag to end the inning.
Give Smith his props.
In the fifth, Northern Kentucky tied the game against Harris when Johnson went to Smith with runners at first and second with nobody out.
But after a sacrifice bunt, Smith struck out Logan Devenport before enticing Jake Altman to bounce out to first to end the inning and keep the score 2-2.
Northern Kentucky went ahead 5-2 in the eighth, before the teams traded runs sending the game to the ninth with the Norse up 6-3.
“You’ve just got to credit our guys for taking their walks earlier because it turns the lineup over,” Johnson said. “The more at-bats guys get, the more they see pitches, the more comfortable they should be.”
Georgia and Northern Kentucky wrap up their series at 1 on Sunday.