ATHENS — Just 14 hours after suffering a 12-3 beating at the hands of Florida State, the Georgia Bulldogs, facing elimination in their own Athens Regional, responded with one of their best games of the season Sunday.
Challenged by coach Scott Stricklin to “find some offense” and “pitch better” after the loss, they did both against Florida Atlantic in an impressive 13-0 victory at a sun-baked and steamy Foley Field.
On the mound, junior starter Tim Elliott needed just 95 pitches to go the distance scattering two hits. He walked none and fanned eight in the season’s most important game for the Bulldogs.
At the plate, junior third baseman Aaron Schunk led a 12-hit attack with a pair of home runs and 6 RBI. Freshman right fielder Connor Tate had a three-run bomb and junior shortstop Cam Shepherd a solo shot.
“This was probably my biggest moment at Georgia, especially with the position we were in. I’m just really happy we got through it,” Elliott said. “I didn’t change anything I normally do.”
Now, the Bulldogs will get a rematch with the Seminoles at 6 p.m. looking for a second straight victory while facing elimination.
Stricklin said Elliott got the nod over freshman fireballer Cole Wilcox, who is expected to start in the nightcap against the Seminoles, because they felt he could give them more innings on a hot afternoon.
They got even more than they were expecting.
“We really could’ve flipped a coin but in the end we thought Tim had the ability to go deeper and give our bullpen a little more rest,” Stricklin said. “We were hoping to get 6 or 7 innings. He gave us nine.
“In situations like this you need someone to step up. Tim was tremendous. It has been fun to watch him grow up.”
Stricklin said a 9:15 a.m. meeting by the team was more a focus on themselves than any scouting reports and helped set the mood for the what they were hoping was going to be a long day.
“We talked about just getting back to doing the things we need to do to be successful. I think they were really ready to get out here,” Stricklin said. “We also talked bringing a little more offense. Tate gives us that and he has had some big moments this year for a freshman. He came through again. Aaron was terrific.”
After a pair of scoreless frames, Dawson County’s Tucker Maxwell, who has had a great regional himself, walked with one out and got into scoring position with a controversial stolen base that survived a 2-minute challenge. Instead of the Owls getting out of the inning, Schunk followed with a two-run home run to left for a 2-0 Georgia lead in the third.
In the fourth, Shepherd beat out an infield single to start things off and advanced to second on a passed ball. Mason Meadows walked with one out and Tate, inserted in the lineup as a starter for the first time in the regional, smashed a three-run homer to left for a 5-0 lead.
Georgia increased its lead to 6-0 in the sixth on a solo home run by Shepherd to lead off the inning. That would be the final batter for FAU starter Mike Ruff (5+IP, 7H, 3BB, 5K, 6ER) as the Owls brought in sophomore lefty Dylan O’Connell. He did not fare any better yielding three runs on two hits in just 1 2/3 innings.
The Bulldogs added three more in the seventh. Riley King walked, moved to second on a groundout, and scored on a RBI double by LJ Tally. John Cable then crushed the Dogs’ fourth homer of the game off the centerfield backdrop to make it 9-0. Schunk blasted a grand slam in the eighth to push the lead to 13-0.
Meanwhile, Elliott was dealing throughout with three strikeouts among the first five Owls batters. He faced the minimum 17 batters into the sixth yielding just two hits, a Andru Summerall single to left on a 1-2 pitch in the fourth, who then was erased on a double play on a nifty play started by second baseman Talley on a hot shot by Pedro Pages, and a two-out double in the sixth to Wilfredo Alvarez.
Elliott closed out the game retiring the final 10 FAU batters.
“We know what we’re going to get,” Stricklin said about Elliott. “Here lately he’s been one of our best guys. He was getting anybody out today.
"You can't ask for anything more than that when you get in the loser's bracket. He was outstanding.”
