ATLANTA – Kolby Branch and Devin Obee have hit their share of home runs.
Still, there’s nothing quite like hitting one in a big-league park. For it to happen at Truist Park against arch-rival Georgia Tech in a 5-2 win? Even sweeter.
"Yeah, I've never done it before, so it's kind of sick to do it," Branch said. "I think it barely got over the wall, so that was cool. It counts the same way ... but yeah, that was cool.”
Obee can attest. His 10th home run, which snuck just over the fence in right, broke a 2-2 tie.
"A lot of people forget how, you know, how many homers (Branch) had last year. I think he had 17-18 last year. He's got a lot of, you know, a lot of juice in his bat," head coach Wes Johnson said. "Then what Devin's been doing ... Devin got a pitch and backed it up. He's very strong. He was able to run it out of here and break that tie. Those were big.”
The win boosts the No. 5-ranked Bulldogs to a 33-6 record, while Georgia Tech falls to 29-8.
A Texas native, Branch said it didn't take him long to appreciate how serious the Bulldogs take their rivalry with Georgia Tech.
"Yeah, I learned about it last year, and I learned what it was about real quick," he said. "I was happy to take the field against them again. Anytime we do, I get excited."
Johnson said he was proud that his players did not let the aura of a big league park like Truist affect their play.
"I gave them a good 10, 15 minutes when we got here to get out your phone. Look, this place is really cool. I mean, it's the Braves park," Johnson said. "But let's get all that out of the way. After that, we put it away, and we got back to playing baseball and respecting the game."
Georgia started the game quickly.
The Bulldogs jumped out to a 2-0 lead, scoring first on an RBI single by Ryland Zaborowski, followed by a bases-loaded walk to Nolan McCarthy.
However, there would be controversy soon to come.
After the walk to McCarthy, Obee hit a ground ball to short.
Carson Kerse made the play, threw to second, only to have Alex Hernandez’s throw sail past first to the Georgia dugout.
Two runs scored on the play, but instead of a 4-0 lead, the two runs were wiped off the board after Georgia Tech coach Danny Hall came out to argue. The umpires got together and ruled that runner McCarthy had interfered with the relay throw.
"They (the umpires) said he bumped (Hernandez). You don't have to slide," Johnson said. "They said he made contact with him, and that's where the rule gets a little wonky. I didn't think he made contact."
Tech would go on to tie the game, but in the fifth inning, Georgia used a solo home run by Obee, followed two batters later by Branch’s two-run blast, to put the Bulldogs back in front, 5-2.
Meanwhile, Georgia’s pitchers were on their game.
In what was a preplanned staff day, 10 Bulldog pitchers combined to hold the Yellow Jackets to just four hits, four walks, and 12 strikeouts.
The win went to Alton Davis II (3-0), one of a Congo line of fellow hurlers, including Charlie Goldstein, who struck out all three batters he faced in the sixth.
Zach Harris also made a good account of himself when he snuffed out a Yellow Jacket rally, striking out leading hitters Drew Burress and Alex Hernandez to end the third.
Later, Matthew Hoskins escaped a two-out rally by the Yellow Jackets when he struck out Kerce with runners at second and third before Jordan Stephens picked his third save with a scoreless ninth.
"I'm proud of those guys. You know, we throw a lot of guys mid-week, but I didn't think the moment got too big for them, which it can," Johnson said. "I think we had a pretty big crowd out there. But yeah, they were calm out there. I thought we attacked the strike zone for the most part. I could go down the line and talk about all ten of them.”
Georgia returns to action Thursday when the Bulldogs resume SEC play with a three-game series at Vanderbilt.
