The Diamond Dogs hosted Western Carolina at Foley Field on Tuesday evening for the purpose of making up a game that previously had been delayed by rain.
The rescheduled contest began to go awry in the fourth inning, when a scoreless tie was broken by a four-run Catamount outburst that commenced with a single by W.C.U. center fielder Barrett Shaft.
Talkin' 'bout Shaft.
There followed a Steven Strausbaugh walk, a Trey McDaniel single, and a Jonathan Greene home run. The Red and Black answered with a lone run in the bottom of the frame, but the Catamounts extended their lead in the sixth stanza, when a Blake Murphy home run and a Mitchell Hatley R.B.I. single extended Western Carolina's advantage to 6-1.
Finally, the Bulldogs' bats came to life in the second half of the sixth inning. A leadoff double by Joey Side got the rally going and a two-run shot by Josh Morris cut into the Catamount lead. Ere the third out was recorded, the Diamond Dogs had narrowed the score to 6-5.
That was the last of the scoring for a couple of frames, until the visiting team generated a seventh run in the top of the ninth inning, leaving Georgia at a two-run disadvantage heading into the Bulldogs' final opportunity to salvage the victory.
The Catamounts' reliever promptly retired the first two batters he faced, then Jonathan Wyatt singled up the middle to give the home team renewed life. Joey Side advanced the baserunner with a hit to the third base side, thereby bringing the winning run to the plate . . . and Gordon Beckham proceeded to fly out to right field, ending the inning and the game.
Georgia was outhit by Western Carolina, 10-9, and the Catamounts were not harmed by the two errors they committed over the course of the contest. Beyond that, quite frankly, I'm not prepared to talk about it.
Go 'Dawgs!