It happened again, and Georgia head coach Wes Johnson hopes it doesn’t stop anytime soon.
Late-inning comebacks have been sort of a thing for 6th-ranked Georgia this weekend against Florida Gulf Coast, but none quite as dramatic as Sunday when Ryan Black’s two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth lifted the Bulldogs to a 4-3 win.
It was Georgia’s third come-from-behind win in the ninth inning or later this weekend against the Eagles (4-8).
“We're gritty; we battle through adversity,” Black said. “We face adversity all the time. We come in every day, we put our heads down, and we just go to work every day.”
A one-out hit-by-pitch of Tre Phelps set the stage for Black, who transferred to Georgia from Texas-Arlington.
Black struck out on an outside changeup his first at-bat against reliever Jordan Vera. But down in the count 1-2 in the ninth, Vera made a mistake with a cutter and Black did not miss, powdering the ball off the scoreboard in right for his third home run to bring the Bulldogs (13-1) pouring out of the dugout.
“My first at-bat against him, everything was at the bottom of the zone. So, my approach for him was just get him up, get a pitch I can drive up in the zone,” Black said. “He did that and left it out of here.”
Johnson said he was not surprised.
“Ryan works really hard at his game. We've done a lot with him since he's been here. He was able to turn on that ball.” Johnson said, “and I had told Kevin (Director of Player Development Kevin Knight) down there in the dugout, if they make a mistake with the cutter in the black, he's gonna send it to the seats. I don't know if it was a mistake or if they were trying to go there. (Black) just got it in, saw the pitch was up, and hammered it.”
Black’s walk-off homer was the first for the Bulldogs since Branch’s grand slam last year against Alabama. It gave Georgia its 10th straight win.
Once again, some solid mound work provided Bulldog bats the opportunity they needed.
Like Charlie Goldstein, the Bulldogs are spending the early part of the season building up the pitch count of JT Quinn, and Sunday, the Ole Miss transfer took another positive step.
The right-hander mixed his pitches well, topping out at 95 in two innings of hitless ball with two strikeouts and one walk.
He wasn’t the only impressive pitcher on the day.
Justin Byrd followed and set down six straight before allowing a walk and the first hit of the day to lead off the fifth. The transfer from USC-Aiken would strike out Nathan Gagan, before Johnson went to Tyler McLoughlin as the third pitcher of the day.
No problem.
McLoughlin struck out both batters he faced, stranding two runners to keep the game scoreless, heading to the bottom of the fifth.
But Bulldog batters were having their problems.
FCGU trotted out soft-throwing lefty Chase Kriebel, who entered play with a 9.53 ERA.
However, baseball can sometimes be a difficult game to explain.
Despite his ugly stats, Georgia batters could not find their timing against Kriebrel, who blanked the Bulldogs on four hits through five before his teammates scored three in the sixth off McLoughlin (two earned) to put FGCU ahead.
Georgia had a chance in the seventh.
After cutting the lead to 3-1 on an infield hit by Phelps, the Bulldogs had two cracks for more runs, but Vera struck out pinch-hitter Ryan Black before getting Kolby Branch on a third fly to left, ending the inning.
The Bulldogs would add a run in the eighth on Slate Alford’s fielder’s choice.
Relievers Paul Farley and Jordan Stephens made sure the Bulldogs would have a chance in the ninth.
Farley pitched a scoreless 1.2, followed by Stephens, who retired all four batters he faced, striking out one with fastballs that topped out at 99 mph.
“Jordan's worked extremely hard,” Johnson said. “If he was over here, he'd tell you how hard he's worked on doing the things to be at the back end, like being quick to the plate, controlling the running game, fielding a position, all of those things.”
Stephens received credit for the win, pushing his record to 2-0.
“With me, it’s more so slowing the game down, holding runners, throwing more strikes definitely,” said Stephens, who has allowed only two hits with nine strikeouts in 5.2 innings. “That pretty much sums it up.”
Georgia returns to action Tuesday against High Point. The first pitch is at 3 p.m.
