Diamond Dawgs On Another Hot Start

The Diamond Dawgs are off to a 7-1 start for the third year in a row after taking three of four games over the weekend at Foley Field.

If Georgia needed a jolt to stay focused, Sunday may be just the ticket as two errors and the giving up of two runs in each of the final three innings handed the Dawgs their first loss of the year in an 8-4 defeat.

For the weekend, Ben Anderson was among the standouts with six RBI with Chaney Rogers now being on a five-game hitting streak.

Georgia started the weekend with a 9-0 win before a 12-inning 5-4 victory and 6-1 triumph in a Saturday doubleheader to get the series win.

The Dawgs host Kennesaw State on Tuesday before next weekend’s series against Georgia Tech with Friday’s game in Athens.

The Friday win was just what the doctor ordered for Emerson Hancock. After a less than par outing to begin the season last weekend, this time was out was expected in a seven-inning, two-hit performance before giving way to Logan Moody for the final two frames.

After a 3-0 lead on a Tucker Bradley RBI in the third and homer three innings later, Georgia padded its lead over the final innings, pushing five runs across in the seventh and one in the eighth. Bradley was a pest to Santa Clara, having three hits and four RBI in the series opener.

Like the season-opening weekend, Georgia continued to show some resilience. In Saturday’s first contest, the Dawgs didn’t just rally back from a 3-0 deficit, they also came back from being down 4-3 in the tenth when Riley King reached on a fielder’s choice before Bradley won it in 12 innings.

Despite not getting a decision, Cole Wilcox was again solid, giving up three runs on six hits in six innings before Michael Polk, Ryan Webb and Jonathan Cannon gave up a combined one run and three hits in six innings to help lock up the win.

It took some time for Georgia to get on the board in Saturday’s nightcap. But once the Dawgs did, it was their game. An inning after Ben Anderson’s flyout tied the score 1-1, Garrett Blaylock’s homer put Georgia out front. The Dawgs pulled away in the seventh on a two-run hit by Anderson and Cam Shepherd’s sacrifice fly.

Justin Glover, who entered the game in the fourth inning in relief of Will Childers, got the win, pitching 3.2 innings and surrendering one hit and no runs. Childers struck out five in 3.1 innings, giving up three runs while Tucker Bradley closed the game out with two shutout innings.

Go Dawgs!