If there’s such a thing as peaking at the right time, the 7th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs appear to be doing just that.

Friday night’s 12-2 rout of Alabama was about as easy as it gets, as Scott Stricklin’s squad pounded out a season-high 17 hits in a victory that enabled the 7th-ranked Bulldogs (41-14, 20-9) to become just the third team to win 20 conference games in school history. Georgia’s other two teams to do so—those of 2001 and 2008—advanced to the College World Series.

“Twenty-one (conference wins) is going to win the SEC most years, and that’s what our goal is,” Stricklin said. “If you had told me that before the season started, I’m signing up 100 percent of the time, and I think everyone else in the league would be, too.”

Unfortunately, a regular-season title will be out of reach when the Bulldogs go for the series sweep (2 p.m.). That’s because Vanderbilt beat Kentucky 12-4 Friday night, sewing up the regular-season crown for the Commodores.

Georgia can still finish as high as third in the league, depending on the outcome of Saturday’s games involving Arkansas and Mississippi.

But even if the Bulldogs have to settle for fourth, you’re not going to hear any complaining after Georgia rolled past Alabama (30-25, 7-22) in the manner they did Friday night.

Georgia was led by designated hitter John Cable, who went 5-for-5 with two RBIs, and third baseman Aaron Schunk with a pair of home runs and four RBIs.

LJ Talley went 3-for-5 with Riley King and Patrick Sullivan adding a pair of RBIs each. Both of King’s RBIs came on his eighth home run.

“Everything’s coming together now; we’ve just got to keep it going,” Cable said. “We’re playing really well now, and it’s a great time to get rolling.”

Starting pitcher Tony Locey was grateful for the support.

The junior right-hander picked up his 10th win of the year, although he had to grind through the game to get it. Locey—whose only perfect inning was the sixth—allowed four hits on four walks with four strikeouts before Ryan Webb pitched the seventh and eighth, giving up one run. James Williams closed out the contest with a scoreless ninth.

“I felt good in the pen, but when I went on the mound in the first inning, I was a little out of whack,” Locey said. “I knew it from the first pitch of the game. I just had to settle in. But hitting is really contagious, and it’s easy to go back out there when we’re putting two runs on the board every inning.”

The junior, who became the first Bulldog pitcher to win 10 games since Michael Pallazone in 2011, allowed base runners in five of his six innings. But with the exception of a third-inning home run by Tyler Gentry, he navigated his way through the Crimson Tide lineup unscathed.

“That’s awesome, but it’s hat’s off to our hitters and our defense,” Locey said. “We’ve been grinding all year, so it hasn’t been just me.”

Georgia grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second on an RBI double by Cable, followed three batters later by Shane Marshall, who picked out a two-strike pitch with an RBI single to center.

Gentry’s 13th home run, his second in as many days, cut the lead to one only to have Georgia answer with some long-ball action of its own courtesy of Riley King, who sent one deep over the fence in left-center.

The Bulldogs weren’t done.

A sacrifice fly by Sullivan and an RBI single from Chaney Rogers extended the margin to 6-1.

Two would be a popular number for the Bulldogs. After scoring two in the second, third, and fifth, Georgia totaled two more in the sixth, seventh, and eighth, the latter four scoring on a pair of two-run homers by Schunk, his 10th and 11th of the year.

“I thought offensively it might have been our best game, and we had a lot of good at-bats throughout,” Stricklin said. “Defensively, we played very well again, got some double plays to help Tony out. Tony scuffled a little bit—but you look at the box score, and he gave up one run and four hits when he didn’t have his best stuff. He fought himself a little bit, but he’s so competitive, and his stuff is so good, that he can overcome that.”

Boxscore

…LJ Talley’s second-inning single extended his hitting streak to nine games.

…Of the 40 home runs allowed by Georgia, 33 have been solo.

…Schunk’s homer extended his hitting streak to 11 games.

…By going 5-for-5, Cable became the first Bulldog to accomplish that feat since Keegan McGovern against Tennessee in 2016.

Georgia wraps up the regular season Saturday at 2 with Emerson Hancock (7-2, 1.31) taking the mound for the Bulldogs, who open play in the SEC Tournament on Wednesday against a yet-to-be-determined opponent. It’s presumed that Georgia will return home in two weeks as the host for one of the 16 NCAA Regionals.