Posted: Feb 21, 2020
ATHENS, Ga. – Emerson Hancock tossed seven shutout innings and Tucker Bradley drove in three runs in No. 5 Georgia's 9-0 win over Santa Clara baseball in the series opener on Friday at Foley Field. The loss snapped the Broncos' five-game win streak.
Santa Clara (5-1) opened the game putting the first two hitters on base against Hancock but the Bulldog ace settled down to retire 19 of next 21 with the only two reaching base an errors in the second and sixth frames. Hancock (1-0) finished with eight strikeouts and did not issue a walk in his seven innings of work to pick up the win.
Leading 1-0, Georgia (5-0) scored two runs in the sixth and added five more in the seventh to turn a one run game into an 8-0 advantage to win their fifth straight.
Against Hancock in the opening frame, Coleman Brigman led off with a double followed by a Jason Dicochea infield single to the diving shortstop Cam Sheperd, which kept Brigman at second. The Broncos attempted a double steal but Brigman was thrown out at third and Hancock struck out both Jake MacNichols and Ryan McCarthy to end the inning.
The Bulldogs took advantage of their opportunity in the third against Santa Clara starter Matthew McGarry who retired the first seven batters before walking three to load the bases. With two outs, McGarry got Tucker Bradley to ground out to Dicochea. The Bronco shortstop looked to throw to second for the force out but with the second baseman covering the base late, Dicochea threw to first that Bradley beat out for an infield single to push a run across to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 advantage.
The run was the only one allowed by McGarry (0-1) who went five innings, allowed two hits and struck out five.
In the sixth, Georgia put up two runs on Bradley's solo homer and Patrick Sullivan's RBI single off reliever Brandon Buckley to go up 3-0. In the next inning, the Bulldogs extended their lead to 8-0 sending 11 batters to the plate, including an RBI single by Bradley for his third hit on the day.
Chaney Rogers went 2-for-3 as the only other Bulldog with multiple hits.
NOTES
-The last time the Broncos started the season 5-1 was in 2012 when they won the first five before falling in the sixth game.
-Freshman pitcher Jared Feikes made his Bronco debut in the eighth inning.
NEXT UP
The Broncos and Bulldog play a twin bill on Saturday starting at 10 a.m. PT. The second game will follow approximately 45 minute after the conclusion of the first game.