Branch’s walk-off blast lifts No. 6 Georgia past The Citadel

ATHENS — For six innings Tuesday, No. 6 Georgia looked nothing like a team that has spent the early part of the season climbing the national rankings.

For the final three, the Bulldogs looked exactly like one.

Kolby Branch’s three-run home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth completed a furious comeback and carried Georgia to an 8-5 win over The Citadel at Foley Field.

It was the kind of swing that erased everything that came before it — including a 5-0 deficit and a sluggish start on a cold afternoon in Athens.

“I’m pacing the dugout saying over and over, ‘We’re going to win this game,’” Branch said. “You say it to speak it into existence and good things happen.”

Good things came late.

The Citadel (which has already posted wins over South Carolina and tested both Kentucky and Florida State) controlled the game early, building a 5-0 lead through six innings by doing exactly what Georgia coach Wes Johnson expected.

“I knew we were going to be in for a dog fight today,” Johnson said. “This team is a really, really good team. We weren’t going to scare them. They run, bunt, do a lot of things on the base paths. They play a different style.”

Georgia (18-4, 2-1 SEC) didn’t counter — not at first.

Junior Daniel Jackson’s double in the sixth, extending his hitting streak to 19 games, served as a quiet signal that something might be coming. It arrived an inning later.

Back-to-back home runs by Branch and Tre Phelps in the seventh finally put the Bulldogs on the board and shifted the energy inside Foley Field.

In the eighth, Georgia kept pressing.

A groundout brought home freshman Ty Peeples. Jack Arcamone followed with an RBI single to score Brennan Hudson. Then, with two outs and the bases loaded, Jackson was hit by a pitch, forcing in the tying run.

From 5-0 down to 5-5, the Bulldogs had flipped the game.

And yet, they still needed one more moment.

They got it in the ninth.

With two outs and two runners aboard, Branch stepped in and delivered again, sending a ball over the left-field wall and touching off a celebration that felt as much like relief as it did triumph.

It was his second home run of the afternoon — and his ninth of the season.

On the mound, Georgia’s bullpen steadied the game long enough for the offense to catch up. Caleb Jameson earned the win, striking out the side in the ninth, while Zach Brown started and worked two innings.

For a team coming off an emotional weekend and adjusting to colder conditions, the slow start didn’t surprise Johnson.

“It was an emotional Sunday and the weather flipped,” he said. “I’ve been on them since this morning.”

What mattered, ultimately, was how Georgia responded.

The Bulldogs didn’t panic. They didn’t press. They simply chipped away — and then swung.

Georgia will now turn its attention to its first SEC road test, a weekend series at Texas A&M beginning Friday.

If Tuesday offered anything, it was a reminder.

Even on an off day, Georgia has enough to turn a game — and maybe more — with one swing.