Georgia baseball cooled off the nation’s No. 1 ranked team this weekend and sent a reminder that getting swept on the road in the previous series wasn’t a sign of the team backsliding much.
Arkansas won their last four SEC series including three straight sweeps.
The No. 6 Bulldogs won the rubber game of the series Sunday 7-6 in 12 innings.
Catcher Henry Hunter’s seventh home run of the season ended it. When the ball cleared the Foley Field center field fence, the celebration began.
Here are three things we learned about the Bulldogs who head to Truist Park in Atlanta to play rival and No. 18 Georgia Tech Tuesday night:
Georgia’s starting pitching is rounding into form
Brian Curley allowed just two earned runs in five innings with 5 strikeouts after moving to the Friday starter role before the bullpen gave up 10 runs in the last three innings of 13-3 loss.
Kolten Smith struck out 8 over 5 innings Saturday with giving up two runs, five hits and one walk. His first start this season was scratched due to back spasms and then he battled an illness.
Leighton Finley Sunday gave up just 3 hits over 5 2/3 innings, striking out eight while walking one and allowing just one earned run.
“I’ve told y’all I think we’re getting close,” coach Wes Johnson said. “We got some from Curley, we got some from Kolten, we got some from Leighton and that’s the sign that things are starting to get where you need them to be on the mound.”
Finley’s 5 2/3 innings were the most by a Georgia starter this year.
“He was attacking the zone,” reliever Brian Zeldin said. “They are a really good team and are going to work some at bats. Leighton did a really good job of filling it up.”
Before this weekend, Georgia starters went five innings just five times.
All three starters hit that mark against the Razorbacks.
Georgia continues to get walk-off wins
Hunter’s game-winning homer to center field was Georgia’s fifth walk-off win of the season.
It was the third walk-off home run.
Daniel Jackson had one against Auburn and Ryan Black another against Florida Gulf Coast.
Georgia’s bullpen didn’t have a great weekend, but Zeldin (3-1) got the win with 3 ⅓ innings of one-hit ball. He struck out three, walked none and the only run against him was unearned.
That came after Arkansas hit two homers off Tyler McLouglin in the ninth inning to send the game to extras.
“Tip your hat, they got us,” Johnson said.
Georgia's bullpen also faltered Friday after a 3-3 game in the seventh became a 10-run Arkansas win.
“It’s not fun, you don’t want that to happen,” Zeldin said of Sunday’s ninth-inning collapse, “but we have so much talent at the plate, so much talent on the mound, we’re confident to win these games and we’ve done it before.”
Georgia is now 3-1 in extra innings.
