ATHENS, Ga. — Fourth-ranked Georgia extended its winning streak to 16 games with an 8-6 victory over East Tennessee State in Tuesday's matchup at Foley Field.
Nine pitchers combined in the win, with JT Quinn (0-0) recording his third-straight scoreless start for the Bulldogs (19-1). Zach Harris (1-0) tallied his first win of the season, tossing 1.0 inning and allowing just one hit while striking out one. The pitching staff recorded a season-low two walks.
"That was awesome. You know, there's nobody down," Georgia coach Wes Johnson said about throwing nine pitchers. "I called them all in, as a matter of fact, all nine of those guys, and told them they would be throwing at some point today. You're not going to pen (bullpen) this week. Your pen will be today. If your pitch count gets too high, it's nothing personal; I'm going to come get you, and we didn't have to do that."
Nolan McCarthy launched a two-run shot in the eighth inning to register his third home run.
Tre Phelps (1-3, 3 RBI) and Robbie Burnett have reached base in all 20 games this year.
"At certain times, when we stop executing consistently as much as we want to – whether that's defense, offense, on the mound, in the box or in the field – just being able to want to play a complete ball game," Phelps said. "Being able to squeeze these out, we know we're good enough to not panic no matter who we're playing. Whether we're in SEC play or not. When you get down, you have to throw a punch back."
Georgia's 16-game winning streak is the second longest in school history, trailing only the 1908 team that went a perfect 20-0 to win the Southern Championship against collegiate squads. They ultimately finished 20-2 with the two losses to professional teams in exhibitions.
Georgia (19-1) opens SEC play on Friday by hosting No. 23 Kentucky (12-2) for a three-game series beginning Friday at 6 p.m.
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"There's not much more we could do from a playing games standpoint," Johnson said. "I think now it's just about going and playing. You better be ready for ups and downs and riding waves; there are so many things that happen in our league. Teams come in hot, and teams come in not hot. It goes all over the map."
Pitcher Zach Harris said he believes the team is ready to open SEC play.
"We've played so many games, I think Wes (Coach Johnson) has put us all in different positions to succeed, and you've got to be versatile out there," Harris said. "We have so many guys on the staff this year that have that depth that we can throw a guy in any situation and know they're going to succeed. We have everyone's back, too. We're brothers on and off the field, so I think that's going to help us, especially going into SEC play."
