For 13th-ranked Georgia, this was more like it.
One day after being blanked on two hits by LIU Brooklyn, the Bulldogs righted themselves Wednesday against visiting Kennesaw State, blanking the Owls 11-1, a decision that gave Scott Stricklin his 500th win as a head coach.
“I’m just fortunate to coach with the guys I’ve coached here, both at Kent State and Georgia, and be around the people that I’ve been around,” Stricklin said. “It’s also a testament to the players I’ve been around, I’ve been around a lot of great ones. When I started coaching, I never guessed I’d be able to last this long because you never know in this profession.”
Four different pitchers got the job done for Georgia (7-1), led by starter C.J. Smith with five scoreless innings, with Justin Glover, Cole Wilcox and James Williams holding the Owls (4-3) to just three hits over the final four.
Offensively, junior Aaron Schunk led Georgia’s eight-hit effort by contributing his third three-hit game of the year (3-for-4) with an RBI. Freshman Randon Jernigan added a pair of hits, scoring two runs.
Smith made his first start of the year for Georgia and started the contest with three scoreless innings, although the Owls certainly made him work to get out of the third.
A hit and a pair of walks by the sophomore loaded the bases for three-hole hitter Garrett Hodges, who worked the count to 3-2 before a swinging strike three ended the inning.
The Bulldogs broke their 11-inning scoreless streak on the bottom of the third, adding a pair of runs on a bases loaded walk to Riley King and a sacrifice fly by LJ Talley.
Georgia added a run in the fifth on a throwing error by shortstop Tyler Simon to make the score 3-0, giving a bigger cushion to Smith who was replaced by Glover to start the sixth.
Smith, who scattered three hits to go along with three walks and four strikeouts, was able to make his biggest pitches when it mattered the most.
After escaping the third, Smith (1-0) ran into another jam in the fourth when he put runners at first and third with nobody out, getting a 5-3 double play and a groundout to short ending the inning.
“(Pitching) Coach (Sean) Kenny talked to me about really being aggressive in the strike zone, especially when you have such a great defense like we do,” Smith said. “Thankfully, tonight, it actually worked well.”
The Owls didn’t do themselves any favors. Kennesaw State committed five errors, the fifth allowing a run to score on a pair of errors by third baseman David Chabut that happened to occur on the same play. After Cam Shepherd popped to Chabut on a ball that was ruled an infield fly, KSU’s third baseman dropped the ball then overthrew his catcher, allowing Georgia’s sixth run to score.
Georgia capped the scoring with a five-run eighth, the big hit a two-RBI double by catcher Mason Meadows.
The freshman Wilcox looked the best that he’s pitched in three appearances so far. The former member of Team USA’s 18U squad tossed a pair of scoreless innings on one hit with no walks and two strikeouts after allowing six earned runs over his previous three innings.
Williams made just his third appearance in three years after redshirting in 2018, giving up a run on a hit in the ninth.
“We were better, we’ve certainly got some work to go,” Stricklin said. “I’ve yet to coach that perfect game; there’s always something to work on, but overall we were better. We drew 10 walks and when you do that you put a lot of pressure on the other team.”
Georgia returns to action Friday when the Bulldogs play their first road games of the year with three at Georgia Southern. Georgia was scheduled to play at Kennesaw State last week but the game was cancelled due to rain. No makeup has been announced.
