A dropped fly ball by Kennesaw State left fielder Jamarie Brooks resulted in a 10-9 walk-off for Georgia Tuesday evening at Foley Field before 1,115 spectators.
The Bulldogs (25-20) squandered a five-run lead in the ninth as the Owls tied the game on five unearned runs following a Georgia miscue. However, the Bulldogs responded in the bottom of the frame as the Owls (22-21) finished with four errors on the night.
“It’s a win,” Georgia’s Ike Cousins head baseball coach Scott Stricklin said. “Certainly, giving up five runs in the ninth, is not how you want to do it and not the way you draw it up. We found a way. I thought Luke Wagner had a tough break happen when we make an error in front of him, and they are able to score the runs. He got that last out to get us into the dugout tied as they had the go-ahead run on third base. That showed some toughness right there. This is a tough team.”
The Bulldogs tallied nine hits on the evening, as graduate Connor Tate recorded three and Will David drove in four runs on a pair of hits. Wagner picked up the win to move to 2-3 while KSU reliever Agyei Quinichett dropped to 1-1. In his first career start, Georgia freshman Jarvis Evans went 3.2 innings and struck out a career-high six. Dalton Rhadans followed with 1.1 scoreless innings.
With bases loaded and one out in the second, a single to center field from freshman Justin Thomas scored David and junior Sebastian Murillo to put Georgia on the board. Graduate Ben Anderson added another run with a sacrifice fly to score freshman Josh Tate, 3-0. Kennesaw got on the board in the third with a solo home run by Chris Cole. The Bulldogs added a fourth run in the bottom of the frame with an RBI-double from David, 4-1. A leadoff home run by Zac Corbin gave the Owls a second run in the fourth.
The Owls scored a fourth run in the eighth as Hassan singled to center field to score Donovan Cash. With two outs in the bottom of the frame, David cranked his second hit of the night for a double to drive in Tate, Anderson and graduate Mason LaPlante as Georgia led 9-4. Nick Hassan delivered a game-tying three-run double in the ninth for KSU.
LaPlante and Anderson drew back-to-back walk in the bottom of the ninth. With two outs, both runners advanced on a wild pitch to put the Bulldogs in scoring position for Cole Wagner. He lifted a ball to left field as Brooks took a couple steps to his left and then had it pop out of his glove as LaPlante touched home for a 10-9 win.
The Bulldogs return to Foley Field on Friday to host a series against No. 18 Tennessee. First pitch will be thrown at 6:02 p.m. The game will be live on SEC Network+ and the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network.
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