Georgia baseball extends winning streak to 11 games

Athens, Ga – Georgia baseball continues to find ways to win games. The Bulldogs picked up their 11th straight win in non-conference play as they continue to climb the national rankings. It’s Georgia’s longest winning streak since 2014.

Georgia was No. 5 in the latest D1 Baseball Rankings.

The Bulldogs defeated High Point 8-4 on Tuesday at Foley Field. The Bulldogs got hit first on Tuesday. They responded with force.

Home runs from Ryan Black, who hit a walk-off two-run home run in Sunday’s win over Florida Gulf Coast and Slate Alford in the bottom of the first inning put Georgia on top for good.

The Bulldogs opened up a 4-1 lead. High Point didn’t go away. They cut the lead to 5-3 in the fifth inning. Georgia looked to its bullpen over the second half of the game.

The pen answered the bell. The Bulldogs’ relievers covered the last half of the game, only allowing one run.

The Bulldogs were also able to add on runs offensively when they needed them late in the game.

“Our motto is being able to take punches and throw punches,” sophomore Tre Phelps said after the game. “We got punched hard twice early and we’re able to stay resilient and know that we have the guys that are good enough to do it whether it happens in the first inning or the last inning.”

Offense clicks

Georgia’s offense scattered 14 hits on the day. Georgia got multi-hit days from Black (3-for-4, 2 RBIs), Alford (2-for-5, 3 RBI), Kolby Branch (2-for-3, 2 runs, RBI), Tre Phelps (2-for-5, run scored) and Christian Adams (2-for-3, RBI run scored).

Both Phelps and Adams feel good about where they are at the plate.

“It’s good feeling like Tre Phelps coming to the park every day,” Phelps said. “Coming up with a smile, coming up with confidence and not speeding myself up. I know my hands are fast. There’s no reason to rush facing 88 and being calm when I’m facing 97. It’s weird, but being able to stay calm no matter has propelled me to whatever the number is up there.”

“I’m just seeing all the pitches and getting on the fastball and putting it in center field,” Adams told reporters. “I’m just working on keeping my head up and getting better every day. It showed today.”

Georgia continues to tinker ahead of SEC play

Johnson changed up the line-up a bit on Tuesday. Black lead off with McCarthy hitting down in the seventh spot.

Johnson has been pleased with the production out of Black, a UT-Arlington transfer, in the multiple roles he’s played for the Bulldogs in his first 14 games in the Georgia uniform.

“I love Ryan’s plate discipline, you look at what we did last year with Corey Collins, he didn’t swing at balls,” Johnson said. “Ryan Black had one of the lowest chase rates in college baseball last year. When you get that guy there that doesn’t chase too many balls out of the strike zone. It forces the pitchers to come at you and the chances of them making a mistake, the odds go in a little more in your favor.”

He also moved things around in the bullpen a bit to line things up for the coming assignments. Leighton Finley pitched an inning in the middle of the game. Finley has been primarily a starter for the Bulldogs so far this season and much of last.

Tuesday was an opportunity for roster and load management. Finley got an inning of work that acted almost like a mid-week bullpen. The same can be said for Kolten Smith and others.

Johnson is working on shifting things a little more permanently soon.

“We’ll start to narrow it down this weekend, you’ve got to get through these six games in six days,” Johnson said. “We’re trying to manage some workloads with our older players right now. Zaborowski, for example, has hit the ball well, but it was more about him managing workloads and you have to be careful with guys. I don’t want to tweak their bodies. We’re scheduling some guys some days off.”

Georgia hosts in-state opponent Georgia State on Wednesday at 3 p.m. The Bulldogs beat the Panthers 7-3 back on Feb. 26 in Atlanta.

The Bulldogs close out this week with a three-game set with Columbia on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.