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The 10th-ranked Bulldogs held on for a 10-9 victory over the Sooners to snap their five-game losing skid.
By: Olivia Sayer
Georgia infielder Slate Alford on April 25, 2025 during Georgia baseball’s game against Oklahoma ta Foley Field. (Conor Dillon/UGAAA)
Claps reigned down through Foley Field, as Oklahoma’s leadoff hitter stepped into the batter’s box. The crowd, yearning for Georgia’s first win in 10 days, willed the Bulldogs on as they tried to record the final out.
On the mound, Zach Harris looked into his glove. He was hungry for an opportunity like this, so he would be remiss if his mentality was anything but “attack.”
“My mentality was just attack the guy,” Harris said. “Let the chips fall where they may, and just do what I can do. Control what I can control.”
Georgia’s bats came alive in its 10-9 victory over Oklahoma, but Harris was arguably the player of the game. The junior right-hander pitched 1.1 massive innings for the Bulldogs, slamming the door on any hope the Sooners had for a comeback.
“He’s been really hungry lately,” head baseball coach Wes Johnson said. “He’s wanted to pitch more and in some different roles and different environments. When you get that combination of a guy who’s hungry, and you throw him into the fire and they perform, you start to trust him.”
Harris, who has a 3.52 ERA in 16 appearances for the Bulldogs this season, entered the game in a pressure-filled situation. Oklahoma had the tying run at third base and all the momentum on its side.
That is, until Harris took the mound.
He went 97-96-97 to strike out Kyle Branch, the younger brother of Georgia shortstop Kolby Branch, on three-straight pitches. The final pitch was a 97 mph sinker that ended at the freshman’s knees.
“We’ve just got to attack the strike zone,” Harris said. “Hitting is hard enough as it is. We kind of blow it out of proportion and be like, ‘These guys are really good hitters.’ Yeah, they’re in the SEC, but hitting is still hard. Getting a hit three out of 10 times is amazing, so attacking guys and getting ahead in counts puts a lot of pressure on.”
Another Bulldog hungry for an opportunity was Slate Alford. Alford struck out chasing ball four after a 10-pitch at-bat to end Thursday night’s game, which left a sour taste in his mouth.
“That one burned last night. I can’t lie,” Alford said. “That was a tough at-bat, and I came up short. But today was a new day, and just fighting [and] doing what I can do.”
There appeared to be some extra fire behind Alford’s first swing of the game, as he demolished a baseball to the trees in left field. His second swing was aggressive as well, clearing the bases with a double into the center field gap.
“It’s been a rough couple weeks, but that’s the game of baseball, ” said Alford, who finished the game 2-for-3 with two walks and his lone out being a 102.6 mph fly out to center field. “Just staying in my approach, trying to stay in the middle of the field, and the good Lord blessed me.”
Georgia’s offense scored more runs than it had in its previous three games combined, and majority of the damage came in a five-run second inning. The Bulldogs took three free passes to begin the frame, which made Oklahoma challenge them with strikes.
When the Sooners threw the ball over the plate, Georgia did not miss. It tallied two hits and another free pass to take a 6-0 lead over Oklahoma.
“Freebies are huge,” Alford said. “Taking your walks and not chasing is huge.”
After Oklahoma got to Georgia starter Kolten Smith, who threw four hitless innings before surrendering two runs on three hits in the fifth, Tre Phelps added to the scoring. He smashed a three-run home run, his second in as many games, to the parking lot to extend Georgia’s lead to 9-2.
The Sooners came within two runs in the top of the seventh, but freshman Cade Brown doubled in the bottom of the inning to give Georgia an insurance run. It was the Bulldogs’ 12th run against left-handed pitching — which was on the mound for 6.1 innings — in the series.
“Cade’s a grinder,” Johnson said of Brown, who received his third start of the season on Friday afternoon. “Constantly wants to be in the cage and hit.”
Although Georgia snapped its five game losing skid, it still has areas to improve. Oklahoma recorded multiple generously ruled hits that the Bulldogs could not make plays on — including a dropped double play ball — and Johnson said they still missed pitches.
“Let’s be real, we didn’t play that well again today,” Johnson said. “We’re starting to do some things better though that we were doing earlier in the year. We did not play well out there when we were on defense. The offense was ok. We still missed too many fastballs. We gave too many free passes and didn’t attack the strike zone.”
However, a win is a win, and the Bulldogs, who are now 34-11 and 11-9 in the SEC, will take victories any way they can get them.
“We’ve got things to improve on, but you never apologize for a win in this league,” Johnson said. “They’re all hard. These are the ones you’ll look back on and go, ‘Yeah, this one was gritty. It was hard.’ That one got us to a certain point.”
The rubber match between the 10th-ranked Bulldogs and 14th-ranked Sooners will be on Saturday at noon. Leighton Finley will be on the mound for Georgia, opposite of Oklahoma’s Malachi Witherspoon, who is the twin brother of Thursday night starter Kyson Witherspoon.