ATHENS — Tucker Bradley’s two-out walk-off home run lifted Georgia past Santa Clara 5-4 in 12 innings in game one of a doubleheader Saturday at Foley Field.
Bradley entered the contest batting .588 and went 3-for-6 including his team-leading third home run. Freshman Jonathan Cannon notched the win, pitching the final frame with two strikeouts. Bronco reliever Travis Howard went 5.2 innings with no walks and seven strikeouts but gave up the home run to take the loss and fall to 2-1. Georgia improved to 6-0 while the Broncos fell to 5-2.
Sophomore right fielder Matt Jew gave the Broncos a 1-0 lead in the second inning when he connected for a solo home run. Santa Clara added a two-out run in the fourth and a solo home run by Eamonn Lance to start the fifth extended its lead to 3-0. The Bulldogs cut the deficit to 3-1 in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Riley King.
In the seventh, Georgia put runners at the corners with nobody out for pinch-hitter Ben Anderson. He put down a safety squeeze to make it 3-2 as Connor Tate scored. He had led off the frame with a base hit and took third on a single by Chaney Rogers. With one out and Rogers at second, a wild pitch got him to third. Then the Broncos brought the infield in, and pinch-hitter Buddy Floyd lined a 3-1 offering from Travis Howard into left field for a game-tying RBI-single.
At 3-all, Georgia turned to junior left-hander Ryan Webb to start the eighth. He struck out the side.
In the ninth, the Broncos put runners at the corners and one out for pinch-hitter Austin Reyes. He squared to bunt and popped it up to Webb who caught it for the second out. Then, he retired leadoff batter Coleman Brigman on a flyout to send it to the bottom of the ninth.
In the 10th, Connor Henriques led off with a bunt and advanced to second on a throwing error by Webb. Coleman Brigman followed with another bunt to move him to third with one out. The bulldogs opted to intentinally walk Jason Dicochea to bring up Jake MacNichols. He lifted a double to left field to make it 4-3. With the infield in, Webb struck out Ryan McCarthy. Then with two outs, he fanned Mike Bowes. In the bottom of the 10th, Cam Shepherd reached on leadoff error by third baseman Connor Henriques. Bradley smashed a single to right field as Shepherd raced to third. On King’s sharp grounder to shortstop, Shepherd scored to make it 4-all on a fielder’s choice.
Georgia sophomore Cole Wilcox started and did not factor in the decision. He allowed three runs on six hits with no walks and seven strikeouts in six innings and got the loss. Bronco starter Russell Grant pitched two scoreless innings with two strikeouts. Georgia freshman Michael Polk pitched a scoreless inning and junior Ryan Webb tossed four innings with seven strikeouts before the Bulldogs turned to freshman Cannon to start the 12th.
The second game of the doubleheader is slated to begin at 5:12 p.m.
