Georgia baseball pitchers Jake Lankie, Blake Gillespie, enter NCAA Transfer Portal
Georgia baseball just booked its spot in the super regional round of the NCAA Tournament, however, the Dawgs also just lost a couple of players to the transfer portal.
Pitcher Jake Lankie announced on Twitter that he will be entering the transfer portal. Meanwhile, On3 has learned that pitcher Blake Gillespie is also in the transfer portal.
Here was Lankie’s tweet announcing his departure: “I will be entering my name into the transfer portal tomorrow with 4 years of eligibility remaining. Excited for new opportunities.”
Gillespie was only able to find 7.1 innings of action this season and even started one game, but he posted a lofty 12.27 ERA in his appearances. 2023 wasn’t much kinder to Gillespie, who accomplished the following last year according to the UGA athletics website: “Posted an 0-1 mark, 14.66 ERA in 11.2 innings with four strikeouts and seven walks.”
Lankie wasn’t able to see in action in 2024 for Georgia.
Georgia advances to super regional
It looked like Georgia Tech may force a winner-take-all Regional Final game on Monday as they entered the fifth inning with a 5-2 lead over rival Georgia on Sunday. But the No. 7 national-seeded Bulldogs came from behind, forced extra innings, and prevailed in Athens. Defeating the Yellow Jackets 8-6 in a 10-inning matchup to advance to the Supers for the first time in 16 years.
It was a team effort from the Bulldogs on Sunday night in a game that lasted four hours and seven minutes. Chipping away with three unanswered runs to tie the game at 5-5 in the ninth inning before a three-run 10th inning gave the Bulldogs their largest lead of the game and the lead they needed to secure the win.
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It’s been a long time coming for Georgia to return to postseason glory, which senior Corey Collins reflected on after the win with his emotions clearly moved.
“It’s been so long, it’s been a long road. I mean I can count on my hand how many times I’ve cried, but this is what it’s all about,” Collins said amid a ruckus atmosphere at Foley Field. “These guys, this atmosphere, this university, I mean everybody. This is the goal, to take it back to the Super and we did it. I was fortunate to be a part of it.”
Kolby Branch tied the ballgame at the top of the ninth with a solo home run that sent Athens into a frenzy. Which was followed by an outstanding defensive play from Georgia pitcher Chandler Marsh, who slid into first base to record the final out of the ninth inning with the bases loaded following a 3-2 pitch.
In extras, the Bulldogs took a one-run lead following a wild throw to first base after a bunt from Fernando Gonzalez at the top of the 10th inning. And in the next at-bat, Collins put an exclamation point on the game with a 2 RBI double that helped seal the deal.