4/7/19 2:45pm
#4 Georgia Wins Series vs #5 Vanderbilt in Front of Sold Out Weekend Crowd
By. Andrew Rodberg
In the biggest three game series of the season for the Bulldogs, they faced the #5 Vanderbilt Commodores with a chance to take sole control on top of the SEC East standings.
On Friday night, the Dawgs sent out Emerson Hancock to take on Vanderbilt’s Drake Fellows. With a barnburner taking place, the Dawgs got to play in their first extra innings game. In doing so, the Dawgs got on the board first with a 2 run third inning and Vanderbilt matched with 1 run innings in the 6th and 9th. Hancock ended his outing with 7 IP, 4 hits, 4BB, and 8 strikeouts vs Vanderbilt’s Drake Fellows 7IP, 5 hits, 1BB, 6 strikeouts but neither earned themselves a win. Both bullpens came in and stalled the offenses until the 11th inning when Vanderbilt broke through and ultimately won the first game 3-2.
The Dawgs came out on Saturday determined to tie the series behind pitcher, C.J Smith. Vanderbilt got things started rather quickly with a solo home-run in the second inning but the Dawgs wouldn’t back down. LJ Talley tied it up with a solo home-run himself and it was the spark the Dawgs needed. They then rattled off a 3 consecutive (scoring) innings, capped off by a Grand Slam by Riley King which pushed the Dawgs lead to 7-1. Led by CJ Smith’s outstanding outing (7 IP, 3 hits, 3 strikeouts) the Dawgs were able to tie the series with a 8-3 win.
On Sunday afternoon, the Dawgs sent out Tony Locey in a rubber match game that would officially end the three game series and give the SEC East standings it’s first real leader. In doing so, Locey took on Vanderbilt’s Kumar Rocker. With both pitchers known to pound the strike zone, the Dawgs struck first with a RBI double from Chaney Rogers followed by a single by Randon Jernigan to give the Dawgs a 2-0 lead. Locey began to cruise and was able to completely disrupt the Vanderbilt offense. With that being said, Georgia held on to their lead as Locey pitched a one hit game (7 IP, 1 hit, 5 strikeouts) as the Dawgs won the series with a final score of 3-1.
The Dawgs now sit at 27-6 on the season and look to a home game vs Georgia Tech, followed by a three game series with Tennessee.
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