ATHENS — Georgia snapped the No.16 ranked Auburn Tigers nine-game winning streak by posting a 4-1 victory Saturday at Foley Field in front of a crowd of 2,642.
Georgia (10-14, 1-4 SEC) faced a 1-0 deficit heading to the fourth against Auburn sophomore Casey Mize who had surrendered just one earned run in 33 innings up to that point this year. However, the Bulldogs struck for a pair and never relinquished the lead as the Tigers dropped to 19-6 overall, 4-1 in the SEC.
Georgia junior Keegan McGovern (3-for-4) started the inning with a one out single, followed by a double from sophomore Michael Curry. Will Campbell hit a sacrifice fly to center scoring McGovern and an Aaron Schunk (3-fo-4, 2 RBI) single to center scored Curry from second base. After being initially called out at the plate, the play was overturned on replay review giving the Bulldogs a 2-1 advantage.
Georgia pushed their lead to 3-1 in the sixth with a leadoff double from McGovern, and consecutive ground balls to the right side. Georgia tacked on an insurance run in the eighth inning after pinch runner Logan Moody scored a run following Schunk’s third hit of the game.
Georgia sophomore Ryan Avidano (2-0) picked up the win in relief, tallying five strikeouts in three innings and freshman Zac Kristofak picked up his first save. Mize (3-1) took his first loss, giving up three runs on nine hits in seven innings.
The rubber game of the series will be Sunday with first pitch slated for 1:02 pm EDT and will be available on SEC Network+ and the Bulldog Sports Network from IMG.
Bulldog Perspective: Relief pitcher Ryan Avidano
“Today felt really good. I felt like I could throw the fastball where I wanted it. At first, I was a little shaky but I got over it. This is our first SEC win, and it feels great. Everyone did their job, and we worked through it. We have a chance tomorrow and it’s really just about everyone doing their job and putting in the work.”
Dawg Tracks
*Freshman CF Tucker Maxwell extended his on base streak to 19 games with a walk.
*Freshman SS Cam Shepherd extended his hitting streak to nine games with his fifth career double in the first inning.
*Junior 1B Keegan McGovern extended his hitting streak to five games and is 9-for-12 this week. He went 3-for-3 today, this was his eighth multi-hit game and his third three hit game this year.
*Sophomore DH Michael Curry extended his hitting streak to a career-best 10 games.
*Sophomore LHP Ryan Avidano pitched three innings setting his career high as a relief pitcher.
Coach’s Corner: Ike Cousins Head Baseball Coach Scott Stricklin
“There’s no question it feels good to get over the hump and get our first SEC win. The bullpen was big. Tony Locey gave us a solid start and ran his pitch count up a little bit today. Ryan Avidano, Shane Tucker and Zac Kristofak did a great job out of the bullpen. We played great defense and turned some double plays. We had some clutch two-out hits to score some runs. Overall, we played really well against a top 25 team with a future first round pick on the mound. It was a really good win for us. At the end of the day, we are realizing we are a really good team that plays really good baseball but we have to find ways to capitalize and finish games. And today, we found a way to do that.”
