No. 4 Bulldogs hang on to win series opener

ATHENS — Good pitching, clutch hitting and a competitive game kept a sellout crowd at Foley Field warm and engaged on an otherwise frigid night as the No. 4-ranked Georgia Bulldogs held off Georgia Tech 6-5 on Friday.

It was the first in a three- game series between the rivals. It’s the first time in 61 years the teams have played a regular-season, weekend series.

Georgia improves to 9-1, while Tech falls to 7-2.

There was plenty of drama to be had in the opening game. The game ended with reliever Ryan Webb striking out Tech senior Jackson Webb with two runners on in the top of the ninth.

That was the second-big- gest moment in the inning. The biggest came with Colin Hill tried to take third base when Georgia catcher Shane Marshall dropped a pitch at home plate. Marshall found the close ball quickly and threw out Hall at third base for the inning’s first out.

That proved big as the Yellow Jackets followed with two infield hits. Stephen Reid brought one run home with a line-drive sacrifice fly to deep center field.

Webb, who relieved Georgia starter Emerson Hancock in the sixth, also got out of jam in the eighth inning. Tech shortstop Luke Waddell, who had a double among his two hits at that point, came to bat with runners on first and sec- ond. Webb got him to strike- out on some high heat.

Webb, a junior left-hander, gave up five hits but had four strikeouts over 3⅓ innings to earn the save. Hancock got the win.

Waddell broke up what had been a perfect game for Hancock with a leadoff double in the top of the fourth. The

Jackets would load the bases on two walks, the second one intentional, and took a 1-0 lead on freshman Drew Comp- ton’s soft single to left field. But Hancock would pitch his way out of it, striking out Stephen Reid and getting Jackson Webb to ground out.

That action seemed to wake up the Bulldogs’ bats. Four singles spurred a two-out rally that culminated with Tucker Bradley’s three-run homer and a 5-1 Georgia lead.

Tech got a run back on Michael Guldberg’s single in the fifth but again left run- ners stranded.

The Jackets knocked out Hancock in the sixth, but not before he recorded his 10th strikeout. He left having given up four runs on eight hits.