Georgia wins doubleheader to complete weekend sweep of Auburn

The third-ranked Georgia Bulldogs completed a three-game sweep of #11 Auburn by winning both games of a Saturday doubleheader at Foley Field in Athens, winning the opener 11-7 and coming from behind in the afternoon game when outfielder Daniel Jackson walked it off with a three-run home run in the bottom of the tenth inning to give the Dogs a 9-6 win.

Georgia’s 28-2 record is their best record in history after 30 games. Auburn falls to 20-8, and 4-5 in the SEC, while the Bulldogs lead the conference with an 8-1 record. Georgia has now posted back-to-back SEC sweeps of ranked teams for the first time since 2008. 

The series had been scheduled to conclude on Sunday but with inclement weather in the forecast, the teams played two on Saturday, with the first game starting at 11 a.m., and the twin bill concluding with a 4 p.m. contest. 

In the game two of the doubleheader, Georgia led 4-3 heading to the ninth inning after scoring twice in both the first and sixth innings. However, the Tigers tied the game and then took the lead with a two-run homer by Bub Terrell in the tenth inning.  The Bulldogs then sealed the win by scoring five times, including Jackson’s walk-off home run, to complete the series sweep.  DJ Radtke (4-0) got the win. 

“It feels awesome to get that win, especially being down by two,” said Jackson on the walk-off homer. “Guys stacking at-bats, putting me in a position where I could get that done. They made it easy on me, it was just awesome that I could be the one to finish it out.” 

In the opener, the Bulldogs were trailing 1-0 when they exploded for six runs on five hits in the fifth inning. The lead was short lived however, when Auburn tied the game with five runs in the top of the sixth inning.  With the game tied 6-6 entering the bottom half of the sixth, the Georgia offense put the home team back in front when the Dogs scored four more runs on five hits. Auburn added a run in the seventh inning and the Bulldogs closed out the scoring with a single run in the latter part of the eighth inning. 

Georgia outfielder Nolan McCarthy had three hits and two RBIs while infielder Christian Adams drove in four runs on two hits.  DH Ryan Zaborowski and infielders Slate Alford and Kolby Branch also had two hits apiece for the Bulldogs. 

Outfielders Ike Irish and Bristol Carter, infielder Cooper McMurray led Auburn’s offense with two hits each.

Brian Curley started and gave up four runs on five hits and three walks through five innings for Georgia. Tyler McLoughlin (4-0) came on in relief in the sixth inning and picked up the win. JT Quinn closed out the game by holding Auburn to just one run on two hits over the final three innings to earn his first save of the year.

John Armstrong (1-1) gave up four runs in a single inning of relief for Auburn to get the loss.

“I want to thank our crowd, they made it tough,” said Georgia’s Ike Cousins Head Baseball Coach Wes Johnson.  “The energy was flowing and we had a lot of fans here. It affects players, and I think it got to them today.”

Both teams return to action on Tuesday when Georgia hosts Queens University in a 3 p.m. contest at Foley Field, while Auburn plays University of Alabama-Birmingham in a 6 p.m. home game.