Florida Gators stop No. 4 Georgia in Athens

ATHENS — Georgia went toe-to-toe with Florida early Sunday.

For two innings, the Bulldogs looked like they might control the day.

Then one inning changed everything.

No. 8 Georgia fell to Florida, 13-7, at Foley Field, undone by an eight-run surge from the Gators across the third and fourth innings that turned a tight game into a chase the Bulldogs could not win.

Florida (27-10, 9-6 SEC) struck first, plating three runs in the opening inning. Georgia (29-8, 11-4 SEC) answered immediately.

Sophomore Rylan Lujo doubled to left-center to get the Bulldogs on the board, and senior Michael O’Shaughnessy followed with a two-run single to score Daniel Jackson and Lujo, trimming the deficit to 3-2.

An inning later, Georgia kept coming.

Jackson, Jordy Oriach and Lujo delivered three straight singles, each driving in a run, as the Bulldogs tied the game at 5-5 and briefly seized momentum.

For a moment, it felt like Georgia had settled in.

“We’ve had three or four games where we’ve only given up one run,” Georgia head coach Wes Johnson said. “Pitching has been good and we’ve got enough hits, but we struggled today on the mound and getting big hits when we had the opportunities.”

That struggle showed up in the third.

Florida broke the game open with six runs in the inning, then added two more in the fourth, flipping a back-and-forth contest into a one-sided affair.

Georgia, which had scored in each of the first two innings, went quiet.

The Bulldogs managed just one run over the final six frames, coming in the eighth when senior Ryan Black singled to right field to end a five-inning scoring drought.

“We don’t need to rely on the long ball as much,” Johnson said. “Our offense can get hits. But today we just didn’t get them when we needed them.”

Lujo, who helped spark Georgia’s early offense, kept his approach simple.

“Just swing hard and swing at strikes,” Lujo said. “I swing as hard as I can and just take the pitches that aren’t close.”

On the mound, senior Matt Scott got the start for Georgia, while senior Grant Edwards (0-1) took the loss. Florida’s Luke McNeillie earned the win.

Even with the setback, Georgia’s 11-4 SEC mark remains its best start through the first half of league play since 2009 — a sign that Sunday’s result, while frustrating, does little to change the Bulldogs’ bigger picture.

Georgia returns to Foley Field on Tuesday to host East Tennessee State