TUSCALOOSA – If Georgia still wants to earn itself a Top 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Bulldogs will have to earn it later this week at Foley Field.
After dropping two games on Sunday to Alabama, Georgia remains stuck on 16 conference wins. It’s believed that 18 league victories would mean the program’s second national seed in as many years. But they’ll have to beat Texas A&M twice this week in Athens to make that happen.
The series gets underway on Thursday.
Georgia had hoped to inch closer with at least one victory. But after dropping the completion of Friday’s suspended game 9-3, Georgia’s mistake-filled afternoon continued during a 5-4 loss in Game 3, resulting in the Bulldogs losing the series, 2-1.
Skipper Wes Johnson was not a happy camper in a postgame interview with UGASports. Although the numbers may suggest his team needs to win at least two of three from the Aggies to be a national seed, seeding was the last thing on his mind.
“I want to go on Thursday night, and I want to play a clean baseball game. When you play a clean baseball game today, you win this game, or when I say that, you're playing right now in the bottom of the 7th,” Johnson said. “My focus isn't about winning two, three, or zero. It’s about going out on Thursday, executing pitches in leverage counts. When you get your fastball, get off you’re A swing, play defense, and don't make stupid base running mistakes.”
More on that later.
It wasn’t like Georgia (40-13, 16-11) had opportunities to score a lot more runs.
In Game 2, the Bulldogs put runners on third base four straight innings but failed to score.
A huge base-running blunder by Henry Hunter didn’t help Georgia’s cause in Game 3.
The Bulldogs were down 4-1 after freshman Bryce Clavon’s first career home run in the third and had runners on, but Hunter allowed himself to get loose on the basepaths at third and was picked off for the second out.
The mistake wound up costing Georgia an extra run as Tre Phelps blooped a single off the glove of second baseman Garrett Staton to make it 4-2.
“Henry was just trying to be aggressive,” Johnson said. “But you got to know left-handed-hitter up, and their guy on the mound struggling, looking for any way he can get out, and he got one.”
Alabama made it 5-2 against Leighton Finley (2-2), before Daniel Jackson brought the Bulldogs back within one with a two-run homer to right-center.
But Georgia got no closer as Kolby Branch struck out with the tying run at second to end the game as SEC saves leader Carson Ozmer saved both ends of Sunday’s games.
“The challenge with our game is, you get a big win on a Friday night, you game one, you don't get to go celebrate for four or five days,” Johnson said. “We got to turn right back around and play the next day, and, you know, we got to mature a little bit in that. When we do that (win big), we have to do a good job of coming back, refocusing, and playing clean baseball.”
Georgia was never able to gain any traction in Game 2 after play resumed with one out in the top of the fifth.
With Phelps at third, Branch already had a 1-2 count when he stepped to the plate. It took three pitches, but the Bulldog ultimately struck out before Ryan Black grounded out, ending the inning.
Georgia – which outhit Alabama 11-7 - would have ample opportunity for more runs but could only manage a seventh-inning sacrifice fly by Robbie Burnett. The Bulldogs left runners at third base in four of the last five innings.
Still, the score was just 6-3 entering the eighth, only to have Alabama blow the game open in the bottom of the eighth on a three-run homer by Richie Bonomolo Jr. off Paul Farley, pushing the margin to 9-3.
The loss went to starter Kolten Smith, who allowed four runs in just two-thirds of an inning.
