ATHENS — The Georgia baseball team started its 2023 season off on the wrong foot Friday. The Bulldogs opened up the year with a surprising 8-5 loss to Jacksonville State at Foley Field.

Georgia 10th-year head coach Scott Stricklin was disappointed with his team’s effort on Friday.

“We had too many free passes,” Stricklin said. “We walked eight and hit five. It just caught up to us.”

As a whole, the Bulldogs’ pitching staff struggled on Friday. They gave up 10 hits, eight earned runs, three home runs, walked eight and hit five Jacksonville State batters.

Georgia pitcher Jaden Woods, who’s been used as a reliever out of the bullpen the past two years, got the start on the mound. The left-hander couldn’t find the strike zone. Woods threw 68 total pitches on Friday, with only 34 of them being called strikes.

Woods pitched two innings, giving up four earned runs on three hits while walking five. He also gave up two home runs to the Gamecocks, both of which came in the second inning. Woods was pulled for relief pitcher Charlie Goldstein going into the third.

Stricklin pointed out it was the walks and hit batters that frustrated him the most.

“When you just keep putting guys on base with free passes, it is going to catch up to you,” he said. “It is going to get you and that is what happened. … It just happened too often.”

Jacksonville State jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the second, with a couple of dingers off Woods. Derrick Jackson added a solo shot off Goldstein in the top of the third.

However, Georgia woke up and started to chip away at the lead after getting behind 5-0.

Mason LaPlante had a one-out double in the bottom of the third before leadoff Ben Anderson crushed a ball over center field, which cut the Gamecocks’ lead to three runs.

Corey Collins had a solo home run in the fourth inning, and the Bulldogs scored again in the fifth frame. JSU pitcher AJ Causey had a two-out balk, scoring Anderson from third.

In the bottom of the seventh, veteran Connor Tate had a two-out double before being driven in by Parks Harber on the next at-bat. Georgia tied the game at 5-5 headed to the eighth.

Bulldogs’ reliever Luke Wagner began the final frame after going scoreless in the eighth. He then beamed JSU designated hitter Jarre Easton with a pitch to start the ninth.

Wagner was replaced by Chandler Marsh after striking out the next hitter. The right-handed sophomore then gave up three runs to the Gamecocks but was able to finish out the ninth.

Georgia’s Sebastian Murillo led off the bottom half of the frame with a free pass on a hit-by-pitch, although he never reached home as the Bulldogs went quietly to end the game.

Stricklin, who turned 51 on opening day, said walks and hit batters just “happen too often.”

“(We were) one pitch away from getting back into the dugout in the ninth, but we get a hit by a pitch and a walk. … When you give teams free opportunities, it is going to come back to get you,” he said. We have to win a series, and we have to come back and fight back.”

Anderson, Harber and Cole Wagner (2-for-4) each had two hits for Georgia. Kyle Greenler and Dalton Rhadans were the two other Bulldog pitchers that came into the game.

Despite a frustrating loss, there were some positives, including Georgia’s pitching staff striking out 15 opposing hitters. Also, offensively, the Bulldogs only struck out six times.

Still, Stricklin hopes Georgia (0-1) can “bounce back” against the Gamecocks (1-0) on Saturday.

“We need a good start out of Liam Sullivan. We certainly have to bounce back.” Stricklin said. “We will find out what kind of team we are tomorrow.”