2/16/18 10:00pm

UGA Baseball opens up season with 22-9 victory vs Georgia Southern

Photo: @baseballuga instagram

 

By. Andrew Rodberg

After finishing the 2017 season with a 25-32 record, the Bulldogs headed into the offseason break focused on becoming a better overall team and keeping themselves above the .500 line. In doing so, their first test of 2018 came in the form of a 1st of 3 game home series with Georgia Southern. As the game got underway, Dawg Nation began to panic and wonder if this would be a repeat of the 2017 season after the Georgia Southern Eagles pushed out to an early 4-0 lead in the 3rd quarter.

With the fan base in full force, the Bulldogs decided they weren’t going to back down and started to build momentum behind their struggling starting pitcher, Kevin Smith. The team rode behind the bats of sophomore Cam Shepard who went 4-4  and junior Michael Curry, who went 3-5 and a Grand Slam with a combined 7-9, they gave the Dawgs new life and a manageable deficit to overcome.

Photo: @ugaathletics instagram

After the Dawgs put up 2 runs in the 3rd inning, the Eagles responded and scored another 3 runs in 5th inning to push their lead to 7-2. This was when UGA’s Cam Shepard caught fire and went 2-2 in the 5th inning racking up 2 RBI’s, courtesy of a double and score on a wild pitch. The 5th inning for the Dawgs didn’t end there, the Dawgs continued to be aggressive at the plate and they ultimately took a 8-7 lead, the first of the game.

The Dawgs refused to let off of the gas and scored in the 6th-8th innings. (2 in the 6th, 6 in the 7th and 5 in the 8th) With this jump in offensive production, the Dawgs will look to ride this momentum as they face the Eagles or game #2 tomorrow at 1:00pm.

 

 

Key Players:

Cam Shepard: 4-4, 3 RBI’s, 1 2B

Michael Curry: 3-5, 5 RBI’s, 1 Grand Slam

Tony Locey: 2 IP, allowed 1 hit, and 2 strike-outs

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