The sixth-ranked Georgia Bulldogs started their four-game weekend series with a dramatic win on a walk-off error, 10-9, against the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles on Friday in Athens, Georgia.
The Bulldogs notched their 10th win of the season, despite falling down 5-0 in the first inning. Late-game heroics have repeatedly made up for early mistakes this season, much to the frustration of Georgia head coach Wes Johnson.
“We need to come out and play clean baseball in the first three innings,” he said following the game. “It’s something I just challenged our guys with right there. Just come out and play clean baseball to start a game.”
The Bulldogs had their ace, Leighton Finley, on the mound but were surprised to see the rotation leader shelled in the first inning. Georgia pulled Finley after just two innings of play, during which he allowed four walks, five hits, and five runs. Eric Hammond came in relief and posted an impressive 2 1/3 innings of work with six strikeouts and no runs, helping stabilize the game, but the offense was also slow out of the gate.
Outfielder Daniel Jackson changed that. In the bottom of the third, he obliterated a 465-foot homer behind the fence of Foley Field. It was the longest-hit ball of the young season for the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs got some hits in response but couldn’t put up more runs in support.
Again, shouldering the offense, Jackson nailed another homer in his next plate appearance in the bottom of the fifth. This one didn’t go as far, but the 109-mph bomb is the Dawgs’ hardest-hit ball of the year. It also made him the first Bulldog to have a multi-homer game this season.
“Honestly, today was one of those days where everything’s just kind of clicking,” said Jackson. “It just feels like you can’t miss.”
This time the Dawgs offense responded. They scored two more runs in the fifth, and five runs in the sixth, all scored with two outs. Jackson once again found himself right in the middle of it all with an RBI double. Given his single in the first, Jackson now found himself a triple shy of the cycle. Though he had one more at-bat, he grounded out and finished the day 4 for 5 with three RBIs.
The Eagles were somehow not deterred. They seemed to respond at every juncture, including in the ninth, when their leadoff hitter Evan Dempsey hit a game-tying triple that just missed leaving the ballpark. After the blown save opportunity, the Bulldogs brought in Jordan Stephens to douse the new fire from FGCU. Stephens stranded the go-ahead runner at third with a strikeout that registered at 100 mph.
The Bulldogs needed just a bit more magic as the game neared its fourth hour. What occurred was a comedy of errors. The first pitch to a Bulldog batter in the bottom of the ninth was an HBP that put the winning run on. After a stolen base, the Bulldogs felt a new life. A pitch clock violation put another runner on. Then the Eagles tried to catch Georgia sleeping on the basepaths and deposited the check-in throw at second into the outfield.
The error by the pitcher put the winning run 90 feet away. After an intentional walk to load the bases, Slate Alford stepped up to bring it home for the Dawgs. His slow roller to first looked to be the first stroke of luck for the Eagles, but the throw home to get the force out missed badly, and the Bulldogs won.
After an incredible first game, the Dawgs bench ran all the way to the centerfield wall in celebration. A doubleheader now awaits these two teams starting at 2 pm EST Saturday.
