Baseball: Rams rout Georgia in opening round of UNC Regional

Georgia pitcher Jonathan Cannon (12) gets set to deliver a pitch during the third inning of Friday’s game against VCU. (Photo: Lance McCurley)

Chapel Hill, NC. — No. 3-seed VCU dominated No. 2-seed Georgia on all phases of the diamond Friday night en route to an 8-1 victory.

The Rams (41-18) won their 16th consecutive game after upsetting the Bulldogs (35-22).

Georgia head coach Scott Stricklin didn’t make any excuses for his team’s performance following the loss.

“It’s disappointing to get to this point and not play well,” Stricklin said. “This team battled so hard to get to the postseason and perform like that. We’ve got to turn the page really quickly to extend our season.”

VCU got out to a quick lead in the top of the first inning as Connor Husjak hit a three-run dinger off of Bulldogs’ ace Jonathan Cannon. The Rams would add one run each in the second, third, sixth and seventh innings before Georgia even got on the scoreboard.

Senior Cole Tate led off the bottom of the seventh with a solo shot off of Rams’ relief pitcher Chase Hungate. The right-hander responded and then put down the next three hitters.

Georgia had a total of seven hits against VCU, although it left 14 runners on base in the contest. The score could have been more lopsided but the Rams left a game-high 17 players on the basepath.

Cannon struggled in the loss to VCU. He lasted 3.2 innings, giving up seven hits and five earned runs. Cannon struck out three, walked two and hit a total of three Rams’ hitters.

“I just wasn’t very competitive in the zone today and that’s just a red-hot offense,” Cannon said. “I gave them too many pitches to hit and I paid for it. Obviously, I hope I get another shot at it.”

Georgia’s pitching staff struggled as a whole. The Bulldogs walked six and gave up a total of four home runs. Davis Rokose, Will Pearson, Michael Polk and Bryce Melear also pitched against VCU.

The Bulldogs will play No. 4-seed Hofstra in an elimination game on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Here is the postgame interview from Sticklin, Cannon and Tate: