Georgia baseball suffers first series loss at home in disparaging fashion

Georgia baseball entered its final game of the regular season with high hopes. The Bulldogs were coming off a nine-game winning streak that saw them take three consecutive SEC series. Saturday’s rubber match against Florida provided a chance for the Bulldogs to make it four in a row and head into postseason play riding high.

Instead, Georgia had a disparaging afternoon at Foley Field. The Bulldogs surrendered 12 runs to the Gators in the fourth inning to lose 19-11. It was Georgia’s first series loss at home this season and one the Bulldogs hope to quickly flush.

“You better move on,” head coach Wes Johnson said. “We’ll flush it, and we’ll get after practice on Monday.”

After Zach Harris threw three shutout innings with a broken nose, the pitching staff collapsed. The Gators began the fourth with three consecutive hits and two homers off Harris to take a one-run lead.

With one out, Josh Roberge replaced Harris and allowed six baserunners before getting lifted for Chandler Marsh. The Bulldogs’ bad luck on the mound continued from there, as five more runs scored. After 17 Gators came to the plate, DJ Radtke got the final out of the inning.

Prior to the Gators’ crooked number, the Bulldogs appeared to be in a favorable position for the matchup. Georgia chased Florida’s two-way star Jac Caglianone from the mound after just 2.1 innings. It was Caglianone’s second-shortest start of the season.

Georgia took a three-run lead into the top of the fourth. However, the 12-run inning shifted the game’s momentum in favor of the visiting Gators. It also prompted a meeting in the Bulldogs’ dugout.

“I challenged our team after that inning,” Johnson said. “I said, ‘You don’t know how this is going to end. We’re not going to hit the panic button, but we need to play the second half of the game with some pride. And see if we can win the second half of the game,’ and we did. I thought our offense showed a lot of fight and didn’t quit.”

The Bulldogs put up a five-spot in the bottom of the eighth to make the final score respectable. Charlie Condon hit his NCAA-leading 35th home run of the season to begin the inning. Two batters later, Slate Alford launched a solo shot off the scoreboard in right field. Four consecutive hits followed and brought Georgia’s run total to double digits.

“We’ve been playing good baseball recently,” Condon said. “But any day you give up a 12-spot, it’s about what you have left in the tank after that happens. We seemed to do a good job of showing some fight. At the end, it felt like we were right there with it and stayed in it, not giving our bats away, we had a couple of pitchers come in and try to get outs. It’s about doing the best you can with the situation.”

Despite scoring 11 runs, the offense also had its woes. The Bulldogs left 11 runners on base, including coming up empty-handed after a bases loaded situation in the bottom of the third. With runners in scoring position, Georgia was 5-for-20.

However, the storyline was the pitching staff. 19 runs tied for the most allowed by the Bulldogs in a game all season. Georgia also surrendered 19 runs in losses to Michigan State and Texas A&M.

Despite the loss, Georgia finished the regular season with a 39-14 record, which is its best regular season mark since 2019. The Bulldogs went 17-13 in the SEC and only suffered five losses at Foley Field.

Georgia will be the sixth seed in the SEC Tournament. The Bulldogs are set to play the 11th seed Tuesday morning at 10:30 a.m. in Hoover, Ala. The full tournament seeding will be revealed after Saturday night’s slate of conference games.