Georgia clinches series over No. 5 Arkansas with Friday night win
Georgia Baseball claimed its second SEC series win of the season on Friday with a second straight win over a top-5 opponent. The Bulldogs beat No. 5 Arkansas 7-3 in the second game of the series after defeating the Razorbacks 6-5 on Thursday night to open things up.
After a scoreless first inning, Georgia jumped on Arkansas in the second with four runs. Cole Wagner, Sebastian Murillo and Mason LaPlante all hit home runs to put the Bulldogs up 4-0 with LaPlante’s also scored Fernando Gonzalez, who had a three-run home run himself on Thursday. Then, Georgia tacked on two more with one each in the third and fourth as Cole Wagner singled to bring home Connor Tate and Gonzalez hit a home run in a second straight game. That would make it a 6-0 advantage for Georgia.
Meanwhile, on the mound, Charlie Goldstein gave Georgia 6.0 innings of scoreless baseball. Goldstein didn’t walk any of the 19 batters he faced, allowing just three hits with five strikeouts, the only ones on the evening for Georgia. Chandler Marsh, Dalton Rhadans and Will Pearson would each throw an inning in a joint effort to close things out for Goldstein who has allowed just one run in his last 16 innings.
RELATED: Georgia takes game one over Arkansas, grabbing top-5 victory for second straight weekend
After a single from Ben Anderson brought home Wagner, Arkansas tacked three on in the eighth with a home run and a sacrifice fly. However, it was only good enough to get within four on Georgia’s way to a win, their third straight and sixth in nine games, moving to 22-17 on the season and 6-11 in the SEC.
“We’re trending in the right direction and that’s three straight starts for Charlie Goldstein where he’s been really good. The bottom of the order came through. Tomorrow is a new ball game and they’re going to be ready to play,” Georgia head coach Scott Stricklin said. “Hagen Smith, I’m sure, is going to pitch for them. He’s really good, so we’re going to have our work cut out for us for sure. Happy with the first two wins and then we’ve got to turn the page, get some rest and get this thing tomorrow.”
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“I did think it was pretty cool that the six, seven, eight and nine hitters all hit a home run in the lineup,” Wagner, who had a pair of RBIs, added. “I haven’t seen that very often. That is super important for us. The top half is awesome. They bring it day in and day out. For the opposing staff to know they have to worry about the depth in the lineup makes it hard. We try to lengthen our lineup and everyone be a tough out.”
The final game of the series comes your way from Foley Field at 2:00 p.m. ET on SEC Network+. Georgia will looks for its first weekend sweep of an opponent after failing to do so up to this point in wins over its non-conference opponents (Jacksonville State, Princeton, Georgia Tech and Charleston Southern) as well as in its only SEC series win against Kentucky.
Saturday will also serve as the third annual Foley Fest, a free event open to the public held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the parking lot adjacent to the Butts-Mehre Building and Rutherford Street. Fans can enjoy live music from Will Slater, food from vendors including Chick-fil-A, Bruster’s Ice Cream and Papa John’s Pizza and activities such as yards games, face painting, a balloon artist and a photo opportunity with the 2022 football National Championship trophy.
