No.8 Georgia baseball evened the weekend series Saturday with a 4-2 win over No. 19 Tennessee, securing the Bulldogs’ first SEC victory of the season at Foley Field. Georgia used early home runs and strong pitching to hold off Tennessee, finishing with 11 hits while limiting the Volunteers to seven.
The Bulldogs struck first in the second inning when designated hitter Michael O’Shaughnessy launched a solo home run to give Georgia an early lead and grow his hitting streak to 11. Georgia added to its advantage in the third inning when second baseman Ryan Black hit a two-run home run, extending the Bulldogs’ lead to 3-0 with 12 straight games with a hit.
Tennessee responded in the fourth inning as designated hitter Blaine Brown homered to right field to put the Volunteers on the board. Tennessee cut further into the deficit in the fifth inning when left fielder Garrett Wright doubled to left field, driving in Manny Marin to make it a one-run game.
Georgia added an insurance run in the sixth inning when right fielder Jack Arcamone singled to right field, bringing home a run and pushing the Bulldogs’ lead to 4-2.
Junior right-hander Dylan Vigue started on the mound for Georgia and pitched 4.2 innings, allowing four hits and two earned runs while striking out five. Reliever Paul Farley recorded the final out of the fifth inning, and despite facing just one batter, got credited with the win for Georgia. Right-hander Caden Aoki closed the game with four scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out six to earn his second save of the season.
Tennessee starter Landon Mack took the loss, pitching 5.1 innings while allowing nine hits and four earned runs with four strikeouts. Cam Appenzeller followed with 2.2 innings of relief, allowing two hits and striking out two.
O’Shaughnessy described the atmosphere that this weekend series has held for conference play.
“This atmosphere tonight was awesome. There is nothing like it,” O’Shaughnessy said. “Today and yesterday, I know we saw some in non-conference play, but there were goosebumps today. There were goosebumps yesterday. It was an awesome feeling.”
Georgia and Tennessee will conclude the series Sunday at 1 p.m. Georgia is expected to start two-way player and sophomore left-hander Kenny Ishikawa, marking his first appearance since a hairline fracture suffered on Feb. 18. Tennessee is projected to start senior left-hander Evan Blanco.