On a frigid day at Foley Field that had fans bundling up with blankets, Georgia’s bats were scorching hot. The offense exploded for 15 hits, propelling the Bulldogs to a 15-1 run-rule victory in the second game of their doubleheader home-opener against the University of Illinois Chicago on Friday.
“We got contributions from a lot of guys offensively,” head coach Wes Johnson said. “We’re still not where I want us to be offensively…we’ve still got a long ways to go at the plate, but I tell you what, it was a step in the right direction tonight.”
Georgia wasted no time jumping out to a 6-0 lead in the first inning. Slate Alford got the rally started with a walk, Tre Phelps and Nolan McCarthy laced back-to-back doubles, and following two more walks, Ryland Zaborowski belted a grand slam to left-center.
The Bulldogs tacked on runs in the second and third innings before another outburst in the fourth inning. Henry Hunter led the way, smoking his first home run of the season to Kudzu Hill, and several batters later, Alford ripped a bases-loaded single that drove in two runs.
Leighton Finley was exceptional on the mound, never giving the Flames a chance of getting back in the game. The junior right-hander threw five shutout innings, allowing just two hits and two walks, while fanning eight — and he had plenty of run support.
“It gets long sitting in there when you watch your offense have great innings each time,” Finley said. “It gets a little lonely in there at times, but it’s fun, I can’t complain, it’s awesome. I love seeing those guys rake.”
Georgia plated three more in the fifth inning, taking a commanding 15-0 lead. Cruise control kicked in the rest of the way, and the Bulldogs eased into a 6-1 record.
One of Georgia’s biggest limitations early this season has been its inability to hit with runners on base. Before Friday’s games, the Bulldogs were just 15-84 (.178) with runners on base, but they finally overcame that deficiency in the second game of the doubleheader, going 8-18 (.444) with runners on.
“I think the reason we were struggling, and we’re still not there, is guys were getting too big, they were trying to hit the grand slam,” Johnson said. “We didn’t do that last year, we were more focused on ‘hit the ball back up the middle, stay in the middle of the field,’ things of that nature.”
Georgia will play the third game of the series against Illinois Chicago on Saturday at 2 p.m. before wrapping up the series on Sunday at 11 a.m.