ATHENS — With runners on the corners and one out in the ninth, the game tied at three, shortstop Nick King delivered a single to right field to propel Georgia to a 4-3 victory over Wright State on Friday night at Foley Field.
Georgia (7-3) jumped on top 1-0 and then 3-1 early in the ball game, but a resilient Raiders squad clawed back into the contest and tied the game. King’s ninth-inning heroics gave Georgia the victory. It was the second walk-off hit of the season for the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs jumped on top in the third inning, using a Stephen Wrenn triple to right-center to bring in LJ Talley with two outs for a 1-0 lead.
The Raiders threatened in the fourth with two on and two outs, but a spectacular diving catch by Skyler Weber allowed Georgia to escape unharmed.
Wright State (5-5) got on the boardwith a solo homer in the fifth inning to tie the game, but Georgia reclaimed the lead immediately in the bottom of the frame with a two-run rally with RBI from Weber on a single and Wrenn on a groundout to take a 3-1 lead.
The Raiders got another solo shot in the sixth, chasing Robert Tyler from the mound after six innings with seven strikeouts. They then tied the game the very next inning, using a two-out triple followed by a single against Bo Tucker to draw even at three runs.
The offenses stalled after, trading zeros into the bottom of the ninth. Trevor Kieboom walked to lead off the final frame, and Cody McCance replaced him as a pinch runner. McCance then advanced to second on a balk, and he moved to third on an infield single by Talley. King then came through after a pitching change, hitting a soft liner into right field for the winning hit.
Dawg Tracks
- Skyler Weber’s hitting streak improved to five games with a leadoff single in the first inning.
- Robert Tyler fanned a total of seven batters in the contest, bringing his season total to 28. With 17 innings on the mound his season, Tyler’s K/9 is an impressive 14.8.
- Stephen Wrenn’s two-out RBI triple in the third inning gave UGA a 1-0 lead. It was his first triple of the season and fifth of his career. He finished with two RBI in the contest.
- Nick King’s single to right to win the game was his first career walk-off winner and was Georgia’s second of the season.
- The victory was Georgia’s first ever over Wright State after entering this weekend’s series 0-1 all-time against the Raiders.
- The bottom half of the order accounted for all four Georgia runs, with Cody McCance (who pinch-ran for Trevor Kieboom in the six slot), LJ Talley (scored two runs out of the eight hole) and Nick King (nine spot) scoring all four runs for the Bulldogs.
Stricklin Says
Head Baseball Coach Scott Stricklin
On tonight’s game…
“Our guys battled. It was a tough, hard fought game. Wright State is a really good team. They’ve got a lot of guys that will go on to play professional baseball on that team. I just thought our guys hung in there. We had a lead, unfortunately we couldn’t keep it, but Robert Tyler gave us a great start, Bo Tucker gave us a chance to win, and I’m just really happy that Nick King was the guy to be able to get that hit.”
On Robert Tyler…
“He gave us a great start. We had momentum right out of the chute and took a lead. We had a 3-1 lead, and with him on the mount, usually you feel pretty good about that, but they crept back in it. He was really good tonight. I thought maybe he got a little fatigued in the fifth and sixth [innings], but that’s a good thing right now. We’re trying to get that pitch count up a little bit and get him ready for SEC play.”
Players’ Perspective
Fr. INF LJ Talley
On the walk-off win…
“Nick and I haven’t been doing our best (offensively), and we know we can do better. For him to get that hit, it was awesome. He got a bunt down earlier in the game (for a base hit), and then (the single to win), it’s just bringing his confidence back. It was awesome.”
On his evaluation of the team’s hitting performance…
“We’ve been talking about having a good two-strike approach. We’ve been getting to two strikes a lot. Coach (Daeley) says we need to stay short (in our swings). A lot of guys have been (pitching) away, away, away, just like (Wright State). So instead of trying to pull the ball, we need to try to hit the ball where it’s pitched.”
Sr. SS Nick King
On the walk-off hit…
“It feels great. I’ve been struggling a lot, obviously, but I just never kept my head down. The guys on the team picked me up whenever they saw that I was down or struggling. It was awesome, a great feeling, but it was a good at-bat by LJ (Talley) and Trevor (Kieboom) to get the walk to start the inning. A lot of credit to them, they just put me in a good spot.”
On the team’s mindset in close games…
“We’ve played in a lot of games like that so far this season, so I think a lot of experience helped us a lot. When we’re in those situations, we don’t really panic. We’ve played in those situations before, that team has played in a lot of those situations before. At this point, it’s kind of fun. It’s kind of what baseball is about right now, especially playing in this conference and playing these teams, you’re going to see some tight games."
On Deck
Georgia and Wright State continue the three-game set on Saturday with a 1 p..m. first pitch.
