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#11 Georgia Wins Season Opener 6-1 Over Presbyterian
Athens,
Ga. - Fueled by 13 hits and a strong start from Alex Wood, 11th-ranked
Georgia defeated Presbyterian 6-1 in the season opener Friday night at
Foley Field.
Georgia (1-0) took the lead in the bottom of
the third inning on a Brandon Stephens home run, the first
round-tripper of the sophomore’s career. Junior shortstop Kyle Farmer
put the tally at 2-0 with a sacrifice fly to score Curt Powell, who
reached third base on back-to-back bunt singles from Peter Verdin and
Conor Welton. The Bulldogs made it 3-0 when Stephens crossed the plate
again in the fourth thanks to a two-out RBI single from Powell (3-4,
RBI).
After being shut down by Wood for four innings,
Presbyterian (0-1) finally got on the board in the top of the fifth
when Matt Peden scored on an RBI single from Brandon Paul. Georgia
answered in the bottom of the frame when designated hitter Brett
DeLoach knocked in senior Levi Hyams, putting the Bulldogs up 4-1.
In
the sixth inning, Presbyterian threatened to put a dent in that lead,
but Wood overcame a two-on-no-out situation by striking out the side.
The redshirt sophomore recorded seven strikeouts with no walks in six
innings for the victory. Georgia’s bullpen tossed the final three
innings. Freshman Pete Nagel, redshirt freshman Jay Swinford and junior
Bryan Benzor all pitched one inning apiece. Benzor closed out the game
by sitting by striking out two of the three batters he faced.
Overall, the Bulldog staff registered 10 strikeouts with just a pair of
walks.
Georgia added some insurance runs in the bottom of
the inning to yield the final margin of 6-1. Powell connected on his
first career triple and was driven home by Verdin. After reaching on a
walk, Welton scored the last run with help from a Farmer RBI double.
Seven Bulldogs recorded at least one hit in the contest, as the team
went 13-for-35 at the plate.
“We had a little bit of
everything tonight, and most importantly we threw a bunch of strikes,”
said Georgia coach David Perno. “We showed some little ball and got
some big hits too. I thought our defense looked calm and collected. We
need to continue to throw the baseball well and keep up the timely
hitting.”
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