Jitters get the best of Georgia's talented freshman class
Radi Nabulsi
It was a different atmosphere with the lights on at Foley Field on Friday night, and it showed as the freshman-laden roster had some jitters in the 9-3 loss to the College of Charleston.
Five freshmen were slated to start in front of 2,913 fans, and numerous unwarranted blunders proved that it takes time for a young group to become acclimated to a new stage. Throughout the night, it showed as either mental mistakes were made or the young hitters were stymied by Cougars’ junior starting pitcher Bailey Ober.
Georgia’s freshmen were faced with large expectations, and it took time for the group of young guys to find their rhythm on the field.
“For sure (there were jitters),” said newcomer Will Proctor, who collected his first hit at the collegiate level in the defeat. “It first hit me when I walked out on that field, it was nerve-racking for sure. I don’t think it was so much nerves, just excited … Mentally, I saw a difference in our confidence from the third inning on.”
Stricklin is aware that his team was beaten soundly against the CAA foe. Entering Friday’s action, the Bulldogs were well aware of the track record that College of Charleston possessed.
Once more, it was indicated that freshman jitters played a factor by the Bulldogs’ skipper. However, with 14 newcomers on the roster, Stricklin has little option but to instill faith in his group and hope that progress will come.
Georgia will introduce a new freshman into the fold as freshman Austin Biggar will catch Saturday’s starter Tony Locey. Stricklin indicated that Friday’s catcher Michael Curry will be the designated hitter and other changes could possibly be made as well.
“We just didn’t play very well, and they outplayed us in every category,” Strickin said. “We won’t use (the inexperience) as an excuse or a crutch. They’re talented, good players and we’re going to put them out there. They’ll get better as we go, and I expect big things from this group. This won’t define us, it’s game one. We’ll rebound tomorrow and play much better.”
Offensively, Georgia was only able to muster seven hits, and only four of those came off of the Cougars’ preseason CAA All-Conference starter.
Georgia’s only runs came in the third and sixth innings, and it was difficult for the Bulldogs to form a significant rally as the Cougars’ ace was mixing up his arsenal and keeping Georgia hitters off-kilter.
“His fastball definitely jumps on you more than what it shows up there,” Georgia lead-off Tucker Bradley said. “When you’re up in the box, it’s about 95 or so.”
Along with the struggles at the plate, the mental miscues were evident by Georgia allowing a total of 14 free bases, which included six walks, six wild pitches and two errors.
Not only did it make it a tough day for sophomore starter Kevin Smith, who added five runs allowed to his ledger, but it dug the Bulldogs in too deep of a whole.
“It affected us big time,” Strickin said. “When you give up free bases, almost (accounting for) four runs, you just can’t do it. You won’t win a baseball game when you play like that, and we didn’t deserve to win.
