Strong pitching leads Bulldogs to sweep Sunday doubleheader against No. 10 Kentucky, get first SEC series win
Strong pitching leads Bulldogs to sweep Sunday doubleheader against No. 10 Kentucky, get first SEC series win
ATHENS — Georgia swept its Sunday doubleheader against No. 10 Kentucky with a pair of strong pitching performances to secure its first conference series win of the season.
The Bulldogs defeated the Wildcats 3-0 in game one, followed by a 6-2 victory in game two.
Georgia’s starters, Liam Sullivan and Charlie Goldstein, had career performances on Sunday.
Georgia head coach Scott Stricklin was proud of the way his team fought after a tough start to the weekend following the Bulldogs’ 7-4 loss to Kentucky on Friday night.
“We certainly needed it,” Stricklin said in his postgame interview with 960 The Ref after UGA’s Sunday sweep over the Wildcats. “What I said before game one is that we needed someone to step up. Someone step up and take charge and Liam Sullivan did that.”
Sullivan was the MVP of game one and took charge on the mound. The left-hander pitched a complete-game gem, throwing all seven innings of the shortened contest for the win.
Sullivan only gave up four hits and walked four, but struck out eight. The junior also became the first Bulldog pitcher to throw a shutout against an SEC opponent since 2014.
Stricklin said that Sullivan was a “little emotional” between the last two innings of the game.
“He was a little emotional after the sixth, and we had to settle him down a little bit in the dugout to get him to go back out for the seventh,” he added. “He was really, really good.”
Sullivan explained he had a jolt of positive energy come over him as the contest went on.
“I don’t really know. Something just kind of came over me and I kind of went with it,” Sullivan explained. “You can kind of always talk about when you do something like that, you usually have bad karma during the next inning. So, I thought I was done in the sixth (inning), so I kind of let it go. And then, I went back out for the seventh (inning) and gave up that double. I was like, ‘Oh, here’s that karma,’ but I ended up being fine.”
Goldstein threw 5.1 innings in game two, giving up two runs on four hits. The redshirt junior left-hander only surrendered one walk and struck seven opposing Wildcat hitters.
Goldstein’s seven strikeouts on Sunday in game two was a season-high. Freshman Leighton Finley was also credited with the save as he gave up one hit and struck out two.
Stricklin acknowledged that game two was one of Goldstein’s best performances as a Bulldog.
“That’s the best I’ve seen of him since he’s been here,” Stricklin said of Goldstein’s effort. “Just got two great starts, and Leighton Finley is growing up. I mean, in his last few outings, he’s been lights out. So, altogether, I am very proud of the way we have played.”
Georgia got the lead in game one because of Josh Stinson’s one-out single in the third, scoring Will David after he singled to lead off the inning. A few batters later, a single by redshirt freshman slugger Charlie Condon brought around Stinson to make it 2-0.
The game’s only other run came in the sixth inning when the Bulldogs had the bases loaded. Corey Collins drew a one-out walk, followed by Fernando Gonzalez reaching base on a hit-by-pitch. David then singled to load the bases and Mason LaPlante collected the RBI as he drove in Justin Thomas, who was used as a pinch runner for Collins.
In game two, Georgia never trailed as it took a 3-0 lead when Parks Harber had a three-run blast in the first. The Bulldogs then added a run in the third on a solo shot from Condon.
After Kentucky got a pair of runs back in the sixth, Georgia answered with two in the bottom half of the inning as Sebastian Murillo and Connor Tate each hit a solo blast (6-2).
Stricklin hopes these wins over the Wildcats can help his team’s confidence moving forward.
“Altogether, very proud of the way we have played. You know, we’ve dug ourselves this hole, and now, we’ve got to climb out of it,” Stricklin said. “You have heard me say that 50 times. I am tired of saying it, but that is how good we can be. It’s frustrating we are where we are, but you know what? We can’t hit the rewind button. We can’t do it over. This is where we are. We just have to play like that and we’ll give ourselves a chance.”