ATHENS — Georgia scored two runs in the first and three more in the fourth to lift the Bulldogs to a 5-2 victory over Kentucky on Friday at Foley Field in front of a sellout crowd.
The game was each team’s SEC opener. With the win, Georgia (14-5, 1-0)has now won its SEC opener in two out of three seasons under head coach Scott Stricklin and leads the all-time series with Kentucky 121-87-1.
After two outs to start the bottom of the first inning, a Keegan McGovern double sparked a two-run first inning for the Bulldogs. Freshman and former Gainesville High standout Michael Curry singled to left to drive in McGovern and senior Daniel Nichols followed suit with an RBI double off the left-field wall.
Georgia added three more in the fourth inning behind the crafty baserunning of Nichols. The designated hitter stole second with one out and evaded the tag with an acrobatic play at home to give Georgia the 3-0 advantage. Mitchell Webb’s single drove in Nichols while an LJ Talley single brought Patrick Sullivan around to score. Another former Gainesville High standout, Skyler Weber, capped the scoring in the fourth with a sacrifice fly to bring in Webb.
Kentucky (12-5, 0-1) cut into Georgia’s lead in the fifth inning behind two singles and two walks, but Georgia starter Robert Tyler earned a popout and a strikeout to limit the Wildcats to two runs.
Tyler (2-1) earned the victory after pitching five innings of two-run ball, allowing two hits and seven walks while striking out six. Junior Drew Moody pitched three innings of scoreless relief and struck out a career-high six batters in the process. Georgia sophomore Bo Tucker entered in the 9th inning and crushed any chance of a Wildcat comeback with a six-pitch save.
Kentucky’s Zack Brown (1-3) was credited with the loss following a line of five runs (all earned) in eight innings pitched with eight hits, one walk and seven strikeouts.
Dawg Tracks
- Junior Robert Tyler entered tonight’s contest tied for 22nd in the NCAA with 33 total strikeouts. He added six more tonight to bring him to 39. He also entered 11th in strikeouts per nine innings at 13.92.
- The victory was Georgia’s sixth in a row, its longest streak of the season. The six-game winning streak is the Bulldogs’ longest streak since a stretch of 11 straight wins in 2014.
- Drew Moody tied his career high with five strikeouts. The junior also had five strikeouts in a game last year against then-No. 11 Florida State.
- Daniel Nichols collected his third multi-hit game of the season with hits in the first, fourth and eighth innings. The first-inning double was the senior’s first of the year.
- McGovern’s first-inning double was his team-leading fifth of the year. After Weber’s streak of reaching base in 13 straight games was broken, McGovern now holds the longest current streak at 10 straight games.
Head Baseball Coach Scott Stricklin
On early offensive pressure…
“That’s the big key. Trying to get runs on the board early, get a big lead, and give yourself a cushion. When you’re facing Zack Brown you’re not going to have too many opportunities, he’s really good and probably one of the best pitchers we’re going to see all year long. And we were able to battle with two balls and two strikes there in the first inning to get those two runs. That was big.”
On the pitching…
“Robert (Tyler) found a way to get the win. He found a way to get through five innings and got himself an SEC win on a Friday night, those are hard to come by. Drew Moody and Bo Tucker were lights out. They were really good. They threw a lot of strikes, they were really aggressive in the strike zone and they fielded their position really well. Drew (Moody) came in there to settle things down and gave us three scoreless innings and Bo Tucker came in and had six pitches in the ninth to take care of it quickly.”
On grinding wins…
“We’ve talked about it a lot. We haven’t been real pretty, but we’ve found ways to win somehow someway. I think that speaks to the toughness of our kids. We have a lot of freshmen out there playing and those guys are showing a lot of leadership even though they’re freshmen. Michael Curry did a great job as a freshman controlling the game out there. I think it does show a little bit of toughness from our team. I’d like to see some prettier wins but I’ll take the ugly ones.”
Players' Perspective
Jr. RHP Drew Moody
On new career-high in strikeouts…
“Coach Corral called a great game and I was just doing what he told me to do. I was packing low with my fastball, but other than that when I got ahead in the count I would either go in with the fastball or throw my slider.”
On scoring early and fast…
“That’s huge. Keegan (McGovern) got us started in the first inning with a double and it’s so big when we score early. Scoring [early] at all is great, but especially five runs.”
Sr. DH Daniel Nichols
On getting up early…
“It was big for us…Tyler was battling tonight, he didn’t have all of the stuff he [normally] has, but Drew Moody gave us a chance to win the game.”
On what was working at the plate…
“We knew what we were facing tonight and we knew it was going to be a good pitcher and a good battle. I got in some good hitter’s counts tonight and I was seeing the ball well and I was glad to help the team out tonight.”
Up Next
Georgia will face Kentucky in game two of the series at Foley Field on Saturday at 2 p.m.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2016/3/378600/georgia-opens-sec-play-with-solid-win-over-kentucky