College

UGA Baseball sweeps South Carolina

ATHENS, Ga.--- On a cold, windy day that proved to be tough hitting conditions it was the Georgia Bulldog pitching staff who led the way combining on a four-hit shutout of South Carolina completing the series sweep by a final of 3-0. The Georgia Bulldogs (18-6, 5-1) are off to their best six-game start in SEC play since 2002.

For the second consecutive day, the Bulldogs were led by tremendous starting pitching from a freshman. Lefty Ryan Webb shutout the Gamecock lineup, striking out a career high seven batters and allowing just two hits in six innings of work.

Hits were at a premium as both teams combined for just seven knocks. The Bulldogs used small ball and capitalized on Gamecock miscues to break the scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth. After a Keegan McGovern leadoff walk and wild pitch off of Gamecock starter Ridge Chapman, Michael Curry drove McGovern in from second with an RBI double down the left field line. Cam Shepherd followed with a groundout to the right side and Adam Sasser followed him with a sacrifice fly to right field giving the Bulldogs a narrow 2-0 lead.

Sasser once again provided the Bulldog offense with a spark in the seventh lacing a leadoff double down the right field line. A perfect sacrifice bunt by LJ Talley and a sacrifice fly to right field by catcher Mason Meadows gave Georgia an insurance run heading into the final two frames.

Relievers Kevin Smith and Aaron Schunk were both efficient out of the bullpen. Smith pitched a scoreless seventh inning and Schunk picked up a six out save preserving the Bulldogs third shutout win of the season.

Dawg Tracks

-Ryan Webb went six innings striking out seven men, both career highs.

-Adam Sasser’s seventh inning double extended his hitting streak to nine games.

-The Bulldogs shutout against the Gamecocks was the first shutout of South Carolina since 2008

-Georgia picked up it’s first SEC sweep since 2015 at Tennessee and first home SEC sweep since 2012 against Auburn.

-With a scoreless eighth and ninth inning Aaron Schunk earned his second save of the season.

Coaches Corner

Ike Cousins Head Baseball Coach Scott Stricklin

On the pitchers duel…

“It was a tough day on the hitters. We kind of knew that coming in. It was going to be cold and wet. Tough hitting background today. I thought both pitchers competed and Ryan Webb gave us just what we needed. Before we took him out of the game, I told him we hoped to get six strong innings out of him, and to have six zeros on the board for him was outstanding. I thought he got a little bit tired. It was a close decision to leave him out there for the seventh, but we made the decision to let Kevin Smith and Aaron Schunk finish it out. Webb was outstanding today, that was his first career win, and it was big for us.”

On the bullpen…

“When we made the decision to put Ryan Webb in the rotation, the flip side of that was moving Kevin Smith to the backside of the bullpen. He factored into all three games this weekend. I give him a lot of credit, because he could of said he didn’t feel like pitching today since he pitched on Friday and Saturday, but he walked into the park today and said he was ready to pitch. He was in the training room early to get treatment. He is a team guy and he wanted to be on the mound. That was a huge inning to put up a zero. Then Aaron Schunk came in and is reliable. He just throws strikes-strikes-strikes."

Player’s Perspective

Freshman Ryan Webb

On the sweep…

“It’s big. I don’t think we’ve had a sweep in a SEC series in a long time. That was a great team that we just beat, and I think it just shows the hard work that we have put in, and how far we have come as a team.”

On what was working…

“My curveball and change-up were great. My fastball was probably the best that it has been all season. I could locate it in-and-out all-day. I just tried to keep them off balance as much as possible.”

Next Up

The Bulldogs will look to build on their six game winning streak on Tuesday when the Bulldogs host the Charleston Southern Buccaneers with first pitch at 6pm.

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