No. 18 Georgia baseball run-rules No. 14 Vanderbilt, 14-4
ATHENS, Ga. - Georgia hit four home runs and Kolten Smith tossed four shutout innings to lead No. 18 Georgia to a 14-4 mercy-rule victory over Vanderbilt in eight innings Saturday to clinch another SEC series at Foley Field in front of a crowd of 3,738.
Fast Facts
● Georgia saw action from Charlie Goldstein, Josh Roberge, Christian Mracna and Kolten Smith on the mound with a combined 10 strikeouts. The win was credited to Smith with only one hit allowed and six strikeouts as he improved to 7-2.
● Corey Collins was hit by pitches in two of his three plate appearances, extending his school record to 22 this season. Also, he had a three-run home run Saturday, his 14th of the year.
● Charlie Condon notched his sixth-straight game with a home run, giving him an NCAA-best 32 on the season. Along with Condon, Collins, Tre Phelps and Kolby Branch hit home runs to give the Bulldogs 120 on the year.
● Fernando Gonzalez' two-run triple provided a 14-4 walk-off run-rule decision in the eighth. It marked the second straight run-rule win in the series as the Bulldogs won 10-0 Friday in seven innings.
• Georgia loaded the bases with nobody out to start the bottom of the fourth and then play was halted for 71 minutes due to rain.
• Before the game, Georgia honored the radio duo of Jeff Dantzler and David Johnston for 25 years of broadcasting Bulldog baseball. They threw out the ceremonial first pitch too.
Key Quotes
Ike Cousins Head Baseball Coach Wes Johnson
On the offensive performance today…
"I thought our offense was phenomenal today. You know, Corey… we get caught up in the HBP's, walks, which are obviously massive. But when he hit that three-run homer in a 3-1 count with Charlie on deck. He got that fast ball in the strike zone and didn't miss it. It's those kind of at bats, when guys can really get into the zone, that'll allow you to put up some runs on the board."
On the rain delay…
"I prepped out guys before the game; I said 'today's a day you're going to have to deal with some adversity, you're going to have to deal with some distraction. A team that can sit there, and just relax, and not stress, and understand that part of the game is things that we can't control, and just stay loose, and not overthink things, so that when they tell us that it's time to play we're going to go out there and be ready.' I think that helped. Our guys were phenomenal during the rain delay and when it was time to go we were ready.
Corey Collins, 1B
On today's offensive performance…
"We worked hard this whole week. We had a great game Tuesday and it really showed. Guys came out here this week just finding pitches to hit and really sticking to it. Trying to get the ball up in the zone, taking balls, and swinging at strikes is what we've been looking forward to doing."
Up Next
Georgia (34-12, 12-11 SEC) finishes this SEC series with Vanderbilt Sunday on Lettermen's Day with first pitch set for 1:02 p.m. ET. Prior to the game, Georgia will honor three of its former lettermen. The game will be available on SECN+ and the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network.
