Georgia coach Scott Stricklin and pitching coach Sean Kenny have been careful working Ryan Webb back into the starting rotation after missing the opening weekend recovering from Covid-19.
Pitch counts have been the norm, as both coaches have wanted to ensure the senior left-hander made it to next week’s SEC opener against Tennessee in top physical form.
Following Saturday’s performance against Lipscomb, it appears Webb is good to go after firing six innings of no-hit ball to help pitch the Bulldogs to a 7-0 win.
Webb (2-0) wasn't allowed to go back out for the seventh after reaching his 80-pitch count. Even so, the final results were impressive; he struck out seven batters and walked only three.
Stricklin said his pitcher tried to let him go out for another inning.
“He came and stood next to me, and he was really quiet. I looked over at him, and he was like, ‘Coach, really?’” Stricklin said. “He’s looking at the scoreboard—I know what he’s looking at. I said yeah, you don’t walk those guys, and you probably go out another inning.”
Webb laughed that he tried his best to get Stricklin to change his mind. But his head coach wasn't about to budge.
“I was coming off the field, and he was like, 'OK guys, pick him up.' I stopped and kind of hesitated, because I felt that was one of my better innings,” Webb said. “I told him I was cruising. I said, 'I’m fine,' but he said, no, I was on a strict pitch count. I guess I stood by him for five minutes, didn’t say a word, but I was able (Saturday) to get in a groove. It was a nice day.”
Unfortunately, Bulldog hopes for a combined no-hitter ended in the seventh when reliever Darryn Pasqua gave up a clean single to leadoff batter Malik Williams. A two-out double by Tiger Borom would put runners at second and third, but Pasqua escaped the threat by striking out Hunter Gray to send the game to the seventh with Georgia still up, 3-0.
Will Pearson and Michael Polk finished off the game with a scoreless eighth and ninth, respectively.
The story, however, was Webb, who in in 12.2 innings has allowed no runs on five hits with four walks and 19 strikeouts.
“Ryan is looking really good. He just lost focus on a couple of hitters, and the walks were uncharacteristic. But it’s a big-time breaking ball, a big-time changeup, the fastball is sitting on 92, and he’s got a lot of spin, he’s got a lot of analytics on it,” Stricklin said. “When the computer (TrackMan) spits out numbers, he’s really good.”
Offensively, freshman Corey Collins and Parks Harber—who missed the first three weeks with a wrist injury first suffered as a junior in high school—accounted for most of the damage with a pair of three-run homers.
Georgia outhit the Bisons (5-4) 8-3. Connor Tate led the Bulldogs with three hits.
Harber’s homer, a three-run shot in the eighth off the top of the scoreboard in right field, put the game away.
“The big thing with me is kind of like first at-bat, first ground ball or whatever, it really calms my nerves,” Harber said. “I’m not going to lie, I was a little nervous coming in. But getting out there with everyone really calmed me down, because we’ve all done this before.”
Collins, meanwhile, continued what’s been a huge two-game series.
After going 3-for-5 with a home run and four RBI in Friday’s 10-0 win, the freshman from North Gwinnett went deep for the second straight day, blasting a three-run homer in the third.
Collins almost hit home run No. 5, but his drive to left center with runners at first and third was hauled down on the warning track in left-center field for the third out.
“Those two guys (Harber and Collins) are probably going to be hitting back-to-back for a long time,” Stricklin said. “Being freshmen, you don’t want to put too much on their plate, and of course we’ve got Corey in the three-hole. Parks has been out for the last three weeks injured, but he’s a good defender and we know he’s going to hit home runs.”
Next up
Georgia and Lipscomb wrap up their three-game series Sunday at 1.
Jonathan Cannon (1-0) will get the start for the Bulldogs, but will be on a pitch count of 50.
