Facing a 1-2 count with Georgia down by three, Chaney Rogers’ opportunity to play hero appeared to be dwindling during his six-inning at-bat. This was during Saturday’s second game against Evansville.
But it all worked out.
One swing later, Rogers jumped on a pitch and drove it over the right-center field fence for the Bulldogs’ biggest hit of the young year, to tie the game and set Georgia up for a 6-5 win on Riley King’s RBI single in the bottom of the seventh.
With the victory, the Bulldogs (2-1) earned the sweep of the seven-inning doubleheader following their 7-3 win in Game 1.
“That guy was a fastball pitcher, but he threw me a changeup the pitch before, and he spiked it,” Rogers said. “I knew after that he was coming back fastball. He threw one up, I finally got a good swing and hit a home run. It was awesome.”
So was the way Georgia was ultimately able to win the game.
After freshman Will Pearson (1-0) made his debut by setting the Purple Aces (1-2) down in order in the seventh, Ben Anderson led off the bottom half of the inning with his first hit of the year on a double to right field.
Two batters later, senior Riley King made his first hit of the game a big one, with a sharp single to right on the first pitch—driving in Anderson for the game-winner.
“They can breathe a little bit now,” head coach Scott Stricklin said of Anderson and Chaney. “When you're struggling with the bat and cannot buy a hit, you squeeze the bat a little bit tighter, and you try a little bit harder, and that can make it a little bit harder. But that was a huge at-bat, that was a veteran approach—what he did during that last at-bat. He didn’t try to pull it, just hit it hard to right and won the game for us.”
The late-inning rally also ended what had to that point been a frustrating second game for the Bulldogs, who fell behind 5-2 after Evansville scored four runs in the fourth off starter Jaden Woods and reliever Nolan Crisp.
Georgia, which out-hit the Purple Aces 10-6, were led by freshman catcher Fernando Gonzales, who went 3 for 3 with an RBI. Rogers finished the game with four RBIs.
Freshman Luke Wagner was the story for Georgia in its 7-3 win in Game One.
A native of New Cumberland, Pa., Wagner (1-0) walked two and struck out three in his collegiate debut, as the Bulldogs moved to 1-1 following Friday’s 3-2 loss in the season-opener.
“There’s nerves, obviously; I was nervous, but as soon as I threw that first pitch, I was ready to go,” said Wagner, who used a second-inning double play to escape a would-be jam and cruised the rest of the way.
“The game was starting to get a little fast for me, so I just had to settle down a little,” Wagner said. “I threw well; I could've done better. There was something bothering me on my finger that we got fixed up, and I should be ready to go for next weekend.”
Stricklin was impressed with what he saw.
“A lot of times you see young pitchers get out of jams like that and gets themselves out of it—it gives them that momentum,” Stricklin said. “He’s really competitive and throws three pitches for strikes. We’ve got a lot of confidence in him.”
Georgia’s bats strung together eight hits, including a 3-for-3 afternoon by Connor Tate, who made his first career start at first base. Tate’s two-run single in the fourth inning made the score 7-0.
Josh McAllister, also drove in a pair of runs, with Cole Tate, Randon Jernigan, and Buddy Floyd on RBI singles.
The Bulldogs jumped on the Purple Aces with four runs in the second, before adding one more in the third and two more in the fourth.
Redshirt freshman Bryce Mealer followed Wagner and was charged with three runs, all the damage coming in the ninth before freshman Collin Caldwell worked around a bases-loaded walk before getting the final out on a soft liner to King at third.
Georgia and Evansville wrap up their series Sunday at noon.
