Georgia coach Wes Johnson had seen this act before.

Once again, the Bulldogs’ starting pitching struggled, with Leighton Finley giving up five runs in the first inning. But just like those previous games, the team found some answers, this time scoring a run in the bottom of the ninth to pull out a 10-9 win over visiting Florida Gulf Coast.

Coming into Friday’s matchup, Georgia’s starting pitching had struggled, with a 9.43 ERA on 22 innings pitched. The bullpen, meanwhile, had allowed just a 1.00 ERA in 63 innings of work.

“The record's getting a little old, the broken record is,” Johnson said of the slow starts. “We need to come out and play clean baseball for the first three innings. It's something I just challenged our guys with right there, to come out and play clean baseball to start a game.”

The Bulldogs’ hitters were held relatively silent for the first four innings, with the lone run scoring on the first of two homers by Daniel Jackson.

But thanks to some excellent relief work by Eric Hammond, the score stayed right there, allowing the Bulldogs to rally back in the fifth and sixth innings.

The Bulldogs got three runs back in the fifth, cutting the deficit to two runs in the fifth inning, including Jackson’s second home run of the game.

Tre Phelps followed with an RBI double, driving in Nolan McCarthy, before scoring on a wild pitch by Dylan Cheeley to draw within 5-4.

The Eagles responded with two runs back in the top of the sixth on a two-run homer by Harrison Povey hit a two-run home run. But the Bulldogs would answer once again.

Singles from first baseman Christian Adams and second baseman Ryan Black were followed by an RBI double from Jackson and a two-run RBI from pinch hitter Robbie Burnett. Phelps would cap the inning with a two-run single.

A five-run home-half of the sixth would give the Bulldogs a 9-7 lead, but the Eagles clawed back with a solo home run from Robert Moya in the eighth, followed by Evan Dempsey’s RBI triple in the ninth to the game.

In the bottom ninth for the Bulldogs, Eagle reliever Leo Giannoni hit Christian Adams with a pitch before pinch-runner Erik Parker stole second, with Kolby Branch walking to put runners on first and second.

After an errant pickoff throw moved both runners up, Ryan Black was intentionally walked, bringing up Slate Alford, who hit a hard grounder to first. The throw home was wide of the catcher, allowing Parker to score the winning run.

Georgia’s offense was led by Jackson, who went 4-for-5 with three RBI.

who finished with hits on four of his five plate appearances. This included two home runs, a single, and a double. Meaning, he fell just short of the triple.

Finley was followed by Hammond, Matthew Hoskins, Kolten Smith, and Jordan Stephens (1-0), who came on in the ninth to retire the side on a strikeout that was clocked at 100 mph.

“By gosh, we better come out and put a zero up on the board, and I'll challenge our guys to do that,” Johnson said. “That'd be real cool, putting a zero up in the first inning.”

Georgia will return to Foley Field on Saturday for the first game of a doubleheader versus Florida Gulf Coast at 2 p.m.

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