Georgia walks away with midweek win over tough Wofford Terriers

ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia Baseball got the job done on a cold, windy evening Tuesday night as the Bulldogs took down the Terriers of Wofford 10-8. One of the top mid-major teams in the country, Wofford came into Athens with just one loss. They left with two thanks to big days at the plate for Charlie Condon, Connor Tate and Mason LaPlante, plus clutch pitching from Will Pearson, Matthew Hoskins and Chandler Marsh.

“I thought we showed a lot of toughness,” Georgia head coach Scott Stricklin said. “Down 4-0, not looking real good out of the gate. They had all of their pitchers lined up. They had a rainout this weekend, and their starter on Friday only went 40 pitches. (Lucas) Mahlstedt, the guy that closed for them, was really good. We knew it was going to be tough for our offense. I thought our offense did a great job. They put up 10 runs and 16 hits. All around, I thought our offense really battled today.”

Wofford went up to bat first and jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top half of the inning. Then, after three Bulldogs struck out in the bottom of the inning, the Terriers added another with a solo home run to lead things off.

Down 4-0, Georgia didn’t go without a fight. Cole Wagner led off the second with a home run of his own before Will David doubled to left field. David would come home on a single from LaPlante to make it 4-2. Then, after a balk scored LaPlante to bring the Bulldogs within one, Condon hit his eighth home run of the season – a two run shot – to put Georgia on top 5-4.

Wofford responded with a run in the third to tie it plus another in the fourth to take the lead once again. However, with four runs in the fourth, Georgia took the lead and never looked back. LaPlante led the inning off with an inside the park home run, Georgia’s first since 2019, followed by an outside the park home run from Tate that scored him and Ben Anderson – Anderson’s second time scoring on the day. Before Wofford could get an out, another ball left the yard. This time it came off the bat of Corey Collins, however due to a late home run call from the umpire and some base running confusion from Collins and Condon, the scorebook only shows a single and Condon the only run scoring. That’s because Collins passed by Condon on the base path and was ruled out because of it. Still, Georgia led 9-6.

Let’s not forget the pitching that helped the Bulldogs get to this point though. Pearson entered for starter Kolten Smith after Smith had given up five in the first three innings. Coming in with runners on first and third, Pearson managed to get out of the inning without any more damage and a tie game for Georgia as he got a fly out to left short enough that the runner couldn’t tag and a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning. Then, after Pearson gave up one in the fourth, Hoskins entered and got the third out by way of strikeout, the start of a strong outing for the freshman.

Hoskins would stay in the game for the fifth and sixth, going 1-2-3 with just one hit and no runs allowed in each of the innings. Then, after he handed the ball off to Marsh, the sophomore kept it rolling with a pair of 1-2-3 innings himself. Both Hoskins and Marsh struck out three while neither faced more than seven batters.

By the time Marsh exited, Georgia had added another. Parks Harber singled to center field and scored Condon with two away in the sixth. That was all the scoring for the Bulldogs, and with the exception of a two-run home run in the ninth for Wofford, the only action on the scoreboard in the final five innings. After the two teams combined for 15 runs in the first four frames, they only added three in the last five.

With the win, Georgia moves to 13-4 on the season as SEC play starts this coming weekend. The Bulldogs host South Carolina at Foley Field Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The Gamecocks, like Wofford before Tuesday’s matchup, enter Athens with just one loss at 17-1 on the season. First pitch of Game One is set for Friday at 6:00 p.m. ET on SEC Network+. Games two and three to follow occur Saturday at 2:00 (SECN+) and Sunday at 3:00, televised on SEC Network.