Quick exit for Bulldogs
HOOVER, Alabama – Georgia’s trip to the SEC Tournament was short one.
No. 11 seed LSU started quickly, scoring a pair of runs in the first inning before rolling to a 9-1 win Tuesday at the Hoover Met.
It wasn’t just that Georgia lost but how it happened that irked skipper Wes Johnson.
Of the 14 hits for LSU (37-20), only two went for extra bases. Seven walks and two hit batters did not do Georgia pitchers any favors.
Offensively, there was also plenty of frustration as Bulldogs hitters failed to barrel up Tiger left-hander Gage Jump, who allowed just one run in seven innings.
“We walked seven, we had some leverage counts where we left the ball in the middle of the plate. We gave up 11 singles …” Johnson said. “I don’t evaluate other teams. I evaluate my team, and my team didn’t execute today.”
So, what’s next for Georgia (39-15)?
The good news is that the Bulldogs are still going to the NCAA Tournament and expected to host one of the 16 NCAA Regionals at Foley Field.
The bad news is, Georgia’s hopes for a top-eight national seed took a hit, after losing three straight as Tuesday’s latest defeat dropped the Bulldogs to No. 7 in the RPI standings.
“I don’t get caught up in that, but I definitely think we’re worthy of hosting,” Johnson said. “We won 17 games in our league. There’s all sorts of stuff out there getting in with 12 and 13, potentially. So, if they’re going to get in with 13 and we win 17, that math to me doesn’t add up to me. As far as national seed, there’s a lot of factors that have to play out, but I do think we’re worthy of hosting.”
So does catcher Fernando Gonzalez, who drove in the Bulldogs’ only run.
Although Tuesday’s loss was certainly no fun, Gonzalez said there’s still plenty of time for the team to regroup.
“It’s a pretty easy job for me and some of the older guys, too, because we have an older team,” Gonzalez said. “We’ve got guys who have been to the tournament before. They know how to reset and keep going, so that’s definitely something we’re going to work on the next few days.”
Georgia simply could not muster any offense against Jump, the Tigers’ No. 2 starting pitcher who was brought back to face the Bulldogs on just four day’s rest.
The reason? At 37-20, the Tigers entered play on the bubble as far as the NCAA Tournament is concerned. With Tuesday’s victory, LSU likely assured itself a bid.
Jump was brilliant.
The redshirt sophomore went seven innings, scattering just four hits with one walk and seven strikeouts before giving way to closer Griffin Herring to start the eighth.
“He did a great job of filling up the zone, but we were also just missing pitches,” Gonzalez said. “But he did a really good job not walking guys. But we didn’t execute like we should have.”
Herring would open the inning by walking the first two batters, but Charlie Condon would hit into a double play before Tre Phelps struck out sending the game to the ninth.
Bulldog starter Jarvis Evans failed to get out of the first.
Back-to-back singles by Michael Braswell III and Tommy White opened the inning for LSU, which jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a two-run single by Josh Pearson.
Evans finally recorded an out, but after a walk to load the bases, was pulled in favor of Christian Mracna, who managed to escape the inning without any more runs scoring.
But the damage was done.
“Part of it was walks, and part of it was barrels,” Gonzalez said. “I thought he was prepared for the game. It just didn’t go his way"
The Tigers tacked on even more insurance with a run in the seventh and three in the ninth.
“There’s times in this game where you know, you get beat, and there’s times you let the other team win. You look at the game today and I kind of feel that’s where it is,” Johnson said. “We gave up 11 singles, walked too many guys (seven), missed too many fastballs in the strike zone. I thought our preparation was fine, but we did some things that were very uncharacteristic of us.”