Skip to main content
Georgia

Georgia Baseball takes down rival Tech with Woods on mound

Palmber-Thombsby: Palmer Thombs03/04/23palmerthombs
Georgia (1)
Kari Hodges / UGA Sports Communications

Georgia Baseball took down its biggest rival Georgia Tech on Friday night, handing the Yellow Jackets their first loss of the season in the process. While it took a little longer than expected at a rain soaked Foley Field, the Bulldogs jumped on top and came away with a 7-2 win against the No. 16 team in the nation according to Collegiate Baseball.

Jaden Woods had himself a second consecutive strong outing after a rough start on Opening Day. After throwing 4.2 innings of one-hit baseball last Friday night against Princeton, he followed it up with 6.0 shutout innings in the win over Georgia Tech, allowing just three hits. Woods struck out eight as he faced 23 batters and threw 99 pitches.

Woods also got his fair share of run support. Georgia got on top 4-0 in the second inning after Sebastian Murillo brought home Corey Collins with a double to left, Cole Wagner and Murillo both scored on a Mason LaPlante triple and Ben Anderson brought home LaPlante with a grounder to first. Then, in the third, big hitters Wagner and Connor Tate both hit balls to the outfield. Wagner’s double to center allowed Collins to cross home a second time along with Fernando Gonzalez before Wagner scored on Tate’s single to left.

That was all the scoring for Georgia, and all the scoring that the Bulldogs needed. In fact, Tech didn’t get on the board until the top of the ninth when Nicholas Romano brought home Brandon Prince with a double. Romano would score later in the inning for the Yellow Jackets’ second run on a single to center with just one out to go. Charlie Goldstein, who threw 2.0 innings to close the game out after an inning from Kyle Greenler, got Angelo Dispigna to pop out to second for the final out.

“We lost the first two, and then we won on Sunday last year,” Georgia head coach Scott Stricklin said. “Any time you win on Sunday, it puts a better taste in your mouth, but the bottom line is that we have a chance to win the series Saturday. Hopefully, we can get to Sunday with a chance to win all three. It is going to be tough tomorrow. Playing at their place is always difficult. I know there will be a great crowd, but I know there will be a lot of Dawg fans in Atlanta tomorrow.” 

The two teams will meet for two more games this weekend. After Friday night’s contest at Foley Field, the rivalry series transitions to Atlanta on Saturday with Tech hosting at Russ Chandler Stadium. First pitch is set for 2:00 p.m. ET on ACC Network Extra. Then, on Sunday, it’s a neutral site to close things out at Coolray Field in Lawrenceville, home of the Gwinnett Stripers. That game can be seen on SEC Network at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Veterans Liam Sullivan, who won Co-SEC Pitcher of the Week this past week for a no-hitter he held through seven innings last Saturday, and Nolan Crisp will be on the mound to start the weekend contests while Tech leaves Saturday as TBA and will throw Jackson Finley, older brother of Georgia freshman Leighton Finley, on Sunday.

You may also like