Bulldogs use school record 16-run inning to rout Auburn
Bulldogs use school record 16-run inning to rout Auburn
Georgia secured its first SEC win of the season and did so in an exciting way on Saturday against Auburn.
The Bulldogs plated a program-record 16 runs in the top of the eighth inning to defeat the Tigers 24-7, improving them to 15-9 overall on the season and 1-5 in conference play.
Georgia’s 16 runs eclipsed the school mark of 13 accomplished three other times, including in last year’s NCAA Regional win over Hofstra in Chapel Hill, N.C. On Saturday, the Bulldogs led Auburn 8-7 before pushing 16 runs across the plate in the eighth.
Georgia lost its first two games of the series, so Saturday’s win was special for the program. The Bulldogs blew a 6-3 lead in the bottom of the ninth on Thursday and lost in extra innings. On Friday, Georgia also had a lead, although ended up losing 6-3 to the Tigers.
"We responded today, and we certainly needed that,” Georgia head coach Scott Stricklin said after the game on Saturday. “We were able to score some runs early again and build a lead but credit Auburn for making it a one-run game. However, we responded in a big way and hopefully now can build some momentum going into next week.”
Georgia got out to a 3-0 lead in the first. Ben Anderson led the game off with a double and came around to score on a Charlie Condon single, which was his league-leading 39th of the season. The talented redshirt freshman also extended his hitting streak to 23 games.
Parks Harber then blasted his ninth dinger of the year and extended his hitting streak to 12 games. The junior also had a career-high five RBIs in the victory on Saturday. The Bulldogs’ lead jumped to 4-0 after Connor Tate blasted one of two runs to start off the third. Later in the frame, Cole Wagner drew a bases-loaded walk, scoring Condon.
Auburn scored one run each in the third and fourth innings, but Georgia plated three in the fifth. Will David had a one-out RBI single up the middle to bring around Harber. A few batters later, a Mason LaPlante single scored David and Sebastian Murillo. However, the Tigers wouldn’t go down easily as they added five runs over the next two innings.
Bulldog starting pitcher Liam Sullivan was pulled in the bottom of the fifth with one out. He was replaced by Dalton Rhadans, who gave up two runs on a double by Cooper McMurray. Georgia held an 8-4 advantage over Auburn in the bottom of the sixth as Rhadans then gave up a three-run bomb to Bryson Ware to make it a one-run contest.
After a quiet seventh frame from both teams, the Bulldogs exploded in the top of the eighth.
In the 16-run inning, Tate crushed a three-run home run, while Harber had a three-run double. Also, LaPlante and Murillo had two-run singles as the Bulldogs batted around twice with a total of 19 players coming to the plate against the Tigers’ pitching staff.
Colin Caldwell followed Rhadans and got the win on the mound. He pitched 1.1 innings, giving up no hits and runs, while he had a strikeout and a walk. Nolan Crisp was then credited with the save. He pitched 1.2 innings of work with a strikeout and zero walks.
“We definitely needed it,” Stricklin told 960 The Ref . “We’ve dug ourselves (into) a hole, let’s not kid about it. “Now, we’ve got to dig out of it, and hopefully, that started today.”
Georgia returns to Foley Field on Wednesday at 6 p.m. for the final game of the Georgia Southern (11-12, 3-2 Sun Belt) series. Earlier this month, the Bulldogs registered wins over the Eagles in North Augusta, S.C., and in Statesboro. The game will be streamed on SEC Network+ and available on the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network.
