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By Olivia Sayer
Georgia graduate students Paul Toetz (23) and Clayton Chadwick (8) run to the dugout during an NCAA college baseball game between Vanderbilt and Georgia at Foley Field in Athens, Georgia, on Sunday, May 5, 2024. Georgia won 11-7. (Photo/Mady Mertens; MadyMertensPhotography)
Georgia baseball saw its nine-game winning streak snapped in a 7-4 loss to Florida Friday afternoon at Foley Field. The Bulldogs’ fourth loss of the season in front of their home crowd occurred in 10-innings.
All nine Gators came to the plate in the top of the 10th. With the game tied at four, Florida’s Ashton Wilson and Jac Caglianone led off with consecutive hits against Brian Zeldin. After a sacrifice bunt advanced the runners into scoring position with one out, Luke Heyman hit a three-run blast to the parking lot to seal the game.
Although the ball was quickly thrown back onto the outfield, the scoreboard remained the same. Heyman’s third home run of the series put Georgia in a three-run deficit and its winning streak in jeopardy.
Zeldin struck out the following batter but then walked three consecutive Gators to load the bases. With two outs, Zach Devito entered the game and retired Michael Robertson to end the prolonged inning.
In 3.2 innings on the mound, Zeldin was charged with six runs on seven hits and six strikeouts.
“[Brian Zeldin] will be fine,” head coach Wes Johnson said after the game. “This is what I’ve told everybody about this Florida Gators team— when you miss in the middle of the plate, and it doesn’t matter who’s on the mound, they get off a really good swing. And [Florida’s] big, and they’re physical, and they’ve got bat speed.”
Zeldin pitched in relief of Leighton Finley, who added another quality start to his resume. The sophomore threw six innings of one-run ball with eight strikeouts. In his last four starts, Finley has 33 strikeouts and a 2.04 ERA.
After Florida advanced a runner to second with one out in the top of the sixth, Johnson walked out of the dugout intending to pull Finley from the game. However, Finley had other ideas.
“When I made that visit in the sixth, I was getting him,” Johnson said. “[Finley] looked at me, and he said ‘no, I got it. I know what to do here.’ I said ‘okay, what’s your plan?’ He told me his plan, and I said ‘okay, that’s what it needs to be, you can do that.’ And he said ‘yup,’ and I said ‘alright, well you got him.’”
After committing no errors in Thursday’s series-opening victory, Georgia’s defense showcased mixed results. In the top of the second, Clayton Chadwick made a leaping catch at the center field wall to rob the Gators of a home run. Four innings later, Dylan Goldstein made a sliding catch to prevent the game-tying run from scoring.
However, in the top of the seventh, the Bulldogs also let multiple opportunities escape them. With a runner on first and one out, Zeldin threw a tapper almost outside the reach of Slate Alford at second base. Alford applied the tag, but Zeldin’s throw on the potential double play ball extended the inning.
During the next at-bat, Georgia caught Florida’s Dale Thomas between first and second base. However, rather than immediately throw the ball to first, Logan Jordan stalled in what looked like an attempt to see if Thomas would steal second. Thomas slid back to first safely, and the next batter doubled to trim the Bulldogs’ lead to one. Jordan was behind the plate in lieu of Henry Hunter, who was ejected in the bottom of the second after arguing a fair-ball call.
Johnson said Georgia will need to clean up a few “defensive communication things” moving forward.
Georgia’s offense was held quieter than most are accustomed to seeing, as the Bulldogs scored just four runs in 10 innings. Corey Collins homered twice, and Charlie Condon extended his hitting streak to 23 games. However, the Bulldogs also struck out 10 times.
“First time I’ve really kind of seen us chase the way we chased with [Liam Peterson] on some balls down,” Johnson said. “His changeup was really moving down, and it was a strike for a really long time. When you see good hitters who know the strike zone start to chase, then flags should come up immediately.”
The challenge for the Bulldogs will not get any easier, as Caglianone will take the mound for the Gators in the rubber match Saturday at 2 p.m. In its last game of the regular season, Georgia will attempt to win its third straight SEC series and bolster its case for a national seed in the NCAA Tournament.