Fifth-ranked Georgia baseball tops #10 LSU

ATHENS— Fifth-ranked Georgia defeated No. 10 LSU 9-7 here Sunday to clinch another Southeastern Conference series in front of a sold-out Foley Field crowd of 3,042.

The Bulldogs improved to 21-3 overall and 5-1 in the SEC, winning their first series over the Tigers since 2011. LSU dropped to 17-7 (4-2 SEC) as the Tigers claimed the opener 1-0 Friday and saw Georgia respond by winning 2-0 Saturday and clinching the series Sunday with Aaron Schunk notching his SEC-leading ninth save by getting the final five outs.

In the third inning, the Bulldogs loaded the bases with two outs. Riley King and Schunk reached with a pair of singles, and the Tigers elected to intentional walk Georgia’s leading hitter in senior LJ Talley to load the bases for designated hitter John Cable. He smashed Eric Walker’s offering on to the hill in right field for his second grand slam of the season. In the fifth, the Tigers got a run back on a sacrifice fly from Brandt Broussard to make it 4-1.

In the seventh, the Bulldogs extended their lead to 6-1 off the Tiger bullpen. Junior Tucker Maxwell lined a one-out single and then notched a pair of stolen bases to make him 11-for-11 on the year. On his steal of third, the throw ended up in left field to allow him to trot home. With two outs, Talley added an RBI-single off Trent Vietmeier. Walker pitched five innings and allowed four runs on five hits with five strikeouts to fall to 1-1.

Georgia junior right-hander Tony Locey provided 5.1 innings, allowing one run on two hits with five walks and a strikeouts to go to 4-0 on the year. Junior Zac Kristofak came in for Locey in the sixth and pitched 1.2 innings with three strikeouts before allowing a home run to Josh Smith in the eighth. Following a walk, the Bulldogs looked to left-hander Justin Glover who made his third appearance of the series. He got the first out of the inning but a sacrifice fly from Chris Reid and then a two-run home run from Daniel Cabrera made it a one-run contest. Georgia turned to freshman Cole Wilcox who retired one Tiger and then with a 2-0 count, the Bulldogs called on Schunk to extinguish the rally. He got the next two hitters to maintain a 6-5 edge.

Georgia answered in the bottom of the eighth off Devin Fontenot. Chaney Rogers led off with a walk and then junior Austin Biggar smashed an opposite field two-run blast to right field for his first home run of the year and an 8-5 lead. Then with one out, Maxwell followed with a shot over the scoreboard for his team-leading sixth home run and a 9-5 lead. The Tigers did not go quietly in the ninth, scoring two runs on three hits off Schunk. Freshman Randon Jernigan made a leaping catch at the left field wall for the first out in the frame while the final out was recorded by Cole Tate with the bases loaded when he stepped on the bag at third base.

Up next, Georgia travels to Atlanta Tuesday to face Georgia Tech. First pitch will be at 7 p.m. and be streamed on the ACC Network Extra and the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network.