Georgia Baseball bounces back to steal one on road against Texas A&M

Georgia Baseball dropped its series to top-ranked Texas A&M over the weekend, but the Bulldogs managed to pick up a win on the road. In the process, Wes Johnson’s squad secured themselves a 2-2 week against a pair of teams ranked in the top-5 of the country after beating Clemson in the midweek, giving themselves a chance to potentially move up in the rankings once again.

On Friday, things didn’t bounce the Bulldogs’ way. Both teams managed to get six hits on the night, but the ones for Texas A&M just seemed to count more. The Aggies hit four home runs to plate their five runs while Georgia saw a pair of solo shots leave the ballpark on what was a windy night in College Station.

Aside from the struggles with the long ball, it was an otherwise impressive outing for Georgia’s pitchers. Leighton Finley struck out seven in 5.0 innings of work before Charlie Goldstein and Josh Roberge each sat down two.

“We executed okay on the mound, but when we missed we got in trouble,” Wes Johnson said on Friday. “You tip your hat to them. They didn’t miss in the middle of the plate that much.”

Due to expected weather on Sunday, Saturday brought about a doubleheader for a second straight weekend. Once again windy, things got off to a great start for Georgia as the Bulldogs took a 9-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Corey Collins, Fernando Gonzalez and Charlie Condon all hit home runs, a record tying one for Condon. It marked his 28th of the season and 53rd of his career, both of which were good to tie Gordon Beckam’s program records.

Things spiraled out of control quickly however. In the bottom half of the opening inning, Texas A&M plated eight with three home runs of their own. The Aggies would tie the game in the third and took the lead in the sixth, scoring a combined 10 runs in the last two innings to run rule Georgia 19-9 in seven.

After starter Matthew Hoskins allowed three runs while facing three batters, Brian Zeldin entered out of the bullpen for the Bulldogs and got them through the tough stuff. The NCBWA Stopper of the Year midseason watch list member for the nation’s top relief pitcher threw 118 pitches in 5.0 innings of work, facing 30 batters. While he allowed eight runs, his effort certainly helped Georgia out later as the Dawgs were able to save some pitching.

Then, in Game 3 of the series – and the second half of the Saturday twinbill – it was A&M that jumped out in front. The Aggies scored a pair of runs to lead 2-0 through three innings, and that remained the score into the seventh. Kolten Smith settled in and struck out a career-high 11 in his 6.0 innings of work, walking just two while allowing just those two runs on six hits. He too topped 100 pitches on the day.

Kolby Branch got the Bulldog offense going in his return to the state of Texas with a solo home run in the seventh. Then, three batters later when Tre Phelps pinch hit, he gave Georgia it’s first lead with a two-run shot. Phelps made his return to the lineup this weekend after a scary knee injury knocked him out the last few weeks.

Georgia wasn’t done in the seventh. Once again, it was Charlie Condon who sent one out of the park. The 29th of the season and 54th of his career, Condon broke both the 2008 single-season mark and the program’s career mark previously held by Gordon Beckham. Beckham’s 28 home runs in 2008 came in 71 games that season as the Bulldogs made a run to the College World Series while the 53 hit on his career came over the course of three seasons and 197 games. Condon passed both in shorter times, just 43 games into the season and 99 games into his career.

The home run was big for the record books, but it was also big in giving Georgia some insurance. Texas A&M would plate two in the seventh to make it 5-4 UGA, but it wasn’t enough to threaten. Christian Mracna threw the final two innings and recorded all six of his outs on strikeouts, allowing just a single hit and sending Georgia home with a win over the top-ranked team. It was just A&M’s second loss at home this season, holding a record of 28-2 at Olsen Field.

“First it was a big-time win for this group and really excited about that and to get out of Aggieland with a W,” Condon said after the game, asked about his home run record. “It’s amazing just the path the past couple of years. I redshirted my freshman year and have worked really hard. It’s really fun for it to pay off with a group like this. I love being able to contribute with such a great group of good guys and all that good stuff. It means a lot, and we’re not done yet. We’re going to keep on rolling, and hopefully will be a couple more coming.”

“Today showed the heart and character of our team. We talk a lot about toughness and the grind as this was our third doubleheader in as many weeks. It was another phenomenal outing from Kolten Smith, executing four pitches in the strike zone and then what Christian Mracna did there at the end, that’s what big-time guys do. I’m proud of them and the whole team,” Wes Johnson added. “The first game didn’t go the way we wanted to. I knew Kolten would get us off to a good start in game two. I told the guys to hang in there. How about Tre Phelps’ home run? How big was that and then Charlie’s home run, it was everybody. A good team win, only their second loss at home all year, and the reason they’re number one in the country. We need to carry this momentum into next week.”

Georgia comes out of the weekend with a 31-12 record, already passing its win total of 29 from last season. UGA also had a 10-11 mark in the SEC, just one win away from tying last year’s mark with nine games to go in league play. The Bulldogs will head to Kennesaw State on Tuesday (6:00 p.m. ET) for their final non-conference game before closing out the campaign with weekend series versus Vanderbilt (May 3-5, Athens), South Carolina (May 9-11, Columbia) and Florida (May 16-18, Athens)