Georgia wins wild, 15-inning midweek matchup over No. 5 Clemson
Not all midweek games are made equally, and that certainly was the case for Tuesday’s top-20 matchup between Georgia and Clemson at Foley Field. It had been five years since the two rivals that have a series dating back to 1900 met with both teams ranked. That one ended in a 20-inning thriller, and this one wasn’t all too different with the Bulldogs coming away as 4-3 victors in 15 innings.
Paul Toetz touched home as the game-winning run for Georgia at 12:33 a.m., scoring on a wild pitch from Rocco Reid as the culmination to a game that saw over 500 pitches thrown in an exactly five hours and 30 minutes duration.
Georgia struck first in the second inning on a single to center field by Toetz that brought home Kolby Branch. Then, Clemson responded with two runs in the third on a triple by Blake Wright and another in the fourth on a Cam Cannarella solo home run that made it 3-1 Tigers. The Bulldogs didn’t go down quietly though as Corey Collins picked up a pair of RBI, one in the seventh to score Dylan Goldstein and a second in the ninth on a short single to right field, scoring Trey King as the game-tying run. Charlie Condon was waved around third to head home from second, trying to win the game, but the UGA super star was thrown out.
That did it for scored for a while. The pitching of both teams took over. Using a total of 20 pitchers in the game, both Georgia and Clemson were pushed to test their bullpens.
Zach Harris made his first start in a Georgia uniform on the bump for the Bulldogs, going a season-long 2.2 innings. Early on, he was impressive, but things slipped in the third inning when Clemson got on the board. He would be replaced by Josh Roberge, the other UGA pitcher to allow a run on the night.
After Roberge finished out the fourth, eight Georgia pitchers combined to allow just six hits, striking out 17 Tiger batters while walking just five. Daniel Padysak, Jarvis Evans, DJ Radtke and Coleman Willis got the Bulldogs into extras as each contributed before Kolten Smith and Charlie Goldstein, a pair of weekend regulars, went 2.0 innings each, striking out three a piece while facing just one over the minimum. Then, Christian Mracna faced three batters before being pulled as he walked a pair, replaced by Chandler Marsh in his first appearance in over a month. Facing five batters, Marsh struck out all five to earn the win.
Several Bulldogs in the field also made big plays. Kolby Branch showed why he was a Freshman All-American and a key transfer portal addition with defensive work at shortstop, aiding by Corey Collins and nice put outs at first base. Fernando Gonzalez had a key throw down to second base to catch a Clemson runner trying to steal in the eighth, and a Slate Alford game-saving double play in the ninth kept the Tigers from doing damage with the bases loaded.
Meanwhile, on the offensive side of things, there were times Georgia threatened. The Bulldogs left 14 runners on base in total across the 15 innings, including multiple in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings. The same happened in the 10th and 14th as well, having runners at first and second without any outs on both occasions without being able to advance either on either occasion. However, UGA certainly made the most of the opportunity in the 15th as Paul Toetz and Clayton Chadwick each walked on full counts before Henry Hunter was hit by the first pitch he saw. Toetz was score on the wild 0-2 pitch to the next hitter, Trey King, with one away to send the Bulldogs home happy.
Georgia, now 30-10 on the season with a 9-9 mark in SEC play, heads to College Station riding high off of the emotional win to take on the top-ranked Texas A&M Aggies in a three-game set. First pitch on Friday is set for 7:00 p.m. ET, followed by Saturday and Sunday contests at 3:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. ET respectively. All three games can be streamed on SEC Network+.
