ATHENS, Ga. — The 12th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs defeated Texas A&M, 4-3, at Foley Field, evening the SEC series at 1-1.
Georgia (26-9, 9-5 SEC) built an early 4-0 lead and then the bullpen trio of Chandler Marsh, Jaden Woods and Jack Gowen preserved the victory over the Aggies (21-13, 7-7 SEC).
"You have to get that last out because there’s no clock like in basketball or football," said Georgia's Ike Cousins head baseball coach Scott Stricklin. "Luke (Wagner) gave us a good start and then Chandler, Jaden and Jack all came in and did the job. It’s great to have Jaden and Jack at the end."
Wagner provided four innings and allowed a run on five hits with five strikeouts before the Bulldogs looked to Marsh. He took care of the next 1.2 innings for the win to move his record to 2-0. Woods fanned five over 2.2 hitless frames while Gowen secured the final two outs for his sixth save. The Bulldog bullpen is 10-for-10 in save opportunities this season.
Offensively, Georgia was led at the plate by graduate Connor Tate (3-for-4, RBI) while Ben Anderson, Parks Harber and Fernando Gonzales all collected an RBI.
Anderson’s sacrifice fly in the second made it 1-0 while the Bulldogs added three runs on five hits in the third off Aggie freshman Chris Cortez (4-2). He was lifted after two innings and then the Aggies got five solid frames from Jacob Palisch who surrendered a run on six hits with five strikeouts. Texas A&M pushed across a run in the fourth, sixth and ninth.
After making it a 4-3 game in the ninth, the Aggies managed to put two on with two out before Gowen struck out Troy Claunch to end the contest.
The rubber game of the series will be Saturday at 4 p.m. (SECN+) and available on the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network.
