4/18/19 8:30pm

6th Inning Rally Pushes #5 Georgia Over #21 Missouri

By. Andrew Rodberg (twitter.com/404thebeat)

ATHENS, Georgia —  Who knew a 6th inning bunt would ignite the fire that the Dawgs needed in order to push past the #21 Missouri Tigers.

Less than 48 hours off their longest baseball game in school history (20 innings vs Clemson) the Dawgs needed to refocus for yet another SEC matchup, this time with the #21 Missouri Tigers.

In a first of three game series, the Dawgs sent out their ace Emerson Hancock to face Missouri’s Jacob Cantleberry. Cantleberry came out after a poor showing in his last start and dealt for most of the game (a no-hitter through five). Sadly for him, a bunt single by Tucker Maxwell in the bottom of the sixth got him frazzled.

In the sixth, the Dawgs realized that they had to do something to get the offense going as both teams became stagnant. In doing so, the Dawgs called for a bunt by Tucker Maxwell. Maxwell laid one down in between the pitcher and first baseman and was able to outrun the toss to first which resulted in the Dawgs first hit of the game.

Cantleberry knowing his no-hit bid was over, lost focus and gave up two consecutive hits to allow the Dawgs to build a 2-0 lead. (Riley King double, Aaron Schunk single) Missouri then turned to their bullpen who gave up another two hits and allowed Georgia to end the 6th with a 3-0 lead. (Cam Shepherd single, John Cable double)

Georgia starter, Emerson Hancock continued to deal as no Missouri batter was able to get any real contact on his pitches. With a 3-0 lead in his back pocket, Hancock pressed forward and ended his outing after pitching 8 innings, giving up 3 hits and issuing 11 strikeouts.

Georgia looked to their bullpen in the 9th and turned to Zac Kristofak to close out the game. With that being said, Zac issued a lead-off walk and forced a fly-out, line-out and a strike-out to give the Dawgs the victory.

With this win, Hancock earned his 7th victory of the 2019 season, whereas Missouri’s Jacob Cantleberry took the loss.

Georgia used two total pitchers with one of them being a reliever (Zac Kristofak)

The Dawgs earn another victory and push their season record to 31-8.

The Dawgs now look to win the series vs #21 Missouri tomorrow in Athens at 7:00pm.

Game will be broadcasted on ESPNU.

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