Georgia squeaks past Army 8-7 to enter winner's bracket of NCAA Regional

ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia jumped into the winner’s bracket as the NCAA Regional host on Friday with an 8-7 win over No. 4 seed Army. The Bulldogs did just enough right to take down the Black Knights, overcoming two errors and left 13 men on base.

Mracna earned the win after recording the final four outs of the game. Charlie Condon went 3-3 at the plate, a triple short of the cycle, with a home run and one driven in. Slate Alford also had three hits and drove in three.

It didn’t take long for Army to draw first blood. Leighton Finley walked Derek Berg to start the game and Chris Barr made Georgia pay a few pitches later. He hit his second home run over the season over the right field fence to stake the Black Knights to a 2-0 lead.

The Bulldogs got one back in their half of the first when Condon belted his nation-leading 36th home run to right field, a ball that left the bat at 109 miles per hour and traveled 414 feet. Georgia threatened by getting two more on with two out but couldn’t cash in.

The next runs of the game came in the third when Finley gave up a two-out single to Braden Golinski and that was followed by Coleson Titus’ second home run of the season. That made it 4-1 in favor of Army.

Georgia struck right back in its half of the third with RBI singles from Slate Alford and Paul Toetz to cut the Army lead to a single run at 4-3. The Bulldogs had runners on first and second with one out but Clayton Chadwick bounced into a 1-6-3 double play to end the inning.

Finley was lifted with two outs in the third inning after Army got runners on 1st and 2nd with two outs. Wes Johnson called on Brian Zeldin out of the bullpen who got Georgia out of it on one pitch with a pop out to Condon at third.

The Bulldogs tied the game in the bottom of the fifth when Chadwick punched a double down the left field line, scoring Dillon Carter from first after he had reached on a leadoff walk. Chadwick was picked off at second base for the second out of the inning and the Bulldogs managed just one run.

The top of the sixth saw Army retake the lead. Left fielder and No. 8 hitter Addison Ainsworth tripled to start the inning and he was driving in by the next batter, Thomas Schreck, on a sacrifice fly to left. That put Georgia in a 5-4 hole.

The bottom of the sixth was a good one for the Bulldogs. Colby Branch led off the inning with an infield single to third. After Corey Collins flew to right for the second out, Army elected to intentionally walk Condon for the second straight at bat, putting runners on first and second with one out.

Freshman designated hitter Trey Phelps followed with a single to center that barely got over Barr’s glove at second base. Branch was held at third and that sent Alford to the dish with the bases full of Bulldogs.

That’s when Army head coach Chris Tracz lifted his starter, Matthew Ronnebaum, and brought in Taylor Greshman to face Alford. After getting into a 1-2 hole, Alford roped a double into the left-centerfield gap, scoring two and giving Georgia its first lead of the game. Carter followed with his second walk of the game and UGA turned to Dylan Goldstein as a pinch hitter for Toetz. He got the runner in from third with a sacrifice fly, pushing the Bulldog lead to 7-5.

After Georgia failed to add on in the bottom of the seventh after getting runners on the corners with two outs, Army fought back in the eighth.

It got a one-out single and Zeldin walked the next batter, bringing up No. 9 hitter Thomas Schreck. He dribbled one to third for an infield hit but instead of putting the ball in his pocket, Condon tried to throw behind the runner at the third-base bag and sailed it over everyone’s head.

That allowed Army to score its sixth run of the game and put Black Knights on 2nd and 3rd with one out. Berg followed with a grounder to second, scoring the tying run and moving Schreck to third with two outs. Zeldin walked Barr to put runners on the corners and then fell behind 2-0 to three-hole hitter Sam Ruta. Johnson had seen enough at that point and went to the bullpen mid-at bat, calling on Mracna. The Georgia senior lost Ruta after inheriting a 2-0 count but he struck out William Parker with the bases loaded to end the frame with the score tied at seven.

The Bulldogs retook the lead in the bottom half of the inning without benefit of a hit. Army brought in Andrew Berg to pitch and Alford grounded out to begin the inning. Carter followed with his third walk of the game, reaching base safely five times in the contest. Berg then plunked Goldstein and Chadwick to load the bases before Army went to the bullpen to bring in Steven Graver. Fernando Gonzalez greeted him with a sacrifice fly to left on an 0-2 count to put Georgia in front 8-7.

Mracna had some trouble in the ninth, walking a batter and giving up a hit with one out but he got a fly out and a ground out to end it. Georgia will play the winner of UNC-Wilmington and Georgia Tech, which will take place later this evening.