Home runs carry Georgia to 10-run surge in win over Kentucky

Georgia erased an early 6-2 deficit to win game 1. It will try to clinch the series at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

The high-powered Bulldog bats took round one against a highly-respected Kentucky pitching staff. The Wildcats entered the game with a 1.89 team ERA and left at 2.57.

Kentucky had surrendered three home runs all season going into Friday night. Georgia finished the night with three.

That started with Georgia’s home run leader, Ryland Zaborowski. The 6-foot-5, 250-pounder towered a 330-foot homer just over the right field wall for a 6-6 tie.

Robbie Burnett took Georgia’s first lead of the game with a sharp RBI single in the sixth inning. Burnett scored three at-bats later on another tall homer from Henry Hunter.

Burnett delivered the fatal blow and the biggest bomb of the day. The UNC Asheville transfer popped his 10th of the season, a three-run shot over the pines behind right-center field.

Just as impressive was the way the Bulldogs’ bullpen responded to an ugly start.

SEC intensity did not cure Georgia’s starting pitching woes. The Wildcats combined three walks and a three-run homer to chase Bulldogs starter Charlie Goldstein 26 pitches into the first inning.

Goldstein struggled against Kentucky in last season’s SEC opener, too. The left-hander allowed six earned runs in a 16-10 loss.

Justin Byrd relieved Goldstein and had a clean finish to the first inning. He stumbled in the third, though, giving up three earned runs.

Then coach Wes Johnson called on Kolten Smith, typically a weekend starter for Georgia, to settle things down. Smith did allow a single that charged two runs to Byrd but was clean after that.

DJ Radtke and Tyler McLoughlin covered the next 3-1/3 innings before Zach Harris slammed the door in the ninth inning.

Georgia has only had one starting pitcher go a five full innings in 21 games this season. Chances aren’t great for that to change on Saturday with right-hander Matthew Hoskins getting the start.

Hoskins has been a solid arm for Georgia this season, but he is usually used out of the bullpen. The junior started two games in each of his first two seasons in Athens.

Hoskins’ longest outing was 3-2/3 innings against Illinois-Chicago three weeks ago.

But Johnson has no problem leaning on his staff’s depth. He talked about the bullpen’s strength in numbers before the series, referencing depth as a point of emphasis after a lack of reliable arms in 2024.

“We felt like last year we were one, maybe two arms away from getting to Omaha, and we leaned on those guys so hard to get to the (Super Regional),” Johnson said. “So we felt like we needed a little more depth, in case we were fortunate enough to get in that situation again.”

Johnson went further Friday night and raved about the depth of his entire roster.

“We don’t have Charlie Condon, right, but we’ve got depth, and we can move different guys in and out,” Johnson said.

The Bulldogs did suffer a couple of injuries in the opener. Leadoff man Ryan Black left the game with a right quad injury after grounding into an inning-ending double play in the second inning.

Black appeared to hit first base awkwardly and hobbled off the field and was replaced by Trey King at second base.

Smith left in the fifth inning with a cramp in his left hip. Johnson did not seem too worried about either injury but added he had not heard an official verdict on Black’s injury.

Georgia scored its first two runs off the bat of a Kentucky transfer Nolan McCarthy. The center fielder helped reenergize Foley Field after Goldstein’s rocky start with a two-RBI single in the bottom of the first inning.

The Bulldogs scored their next two runs on a wild pitch and a balk, leading up to Zaborowski’s homer.