Georgia baseball could not carry its firepower from Friday night’s win into Saturday, dropping a heartbreaking walkoff loss at No. 3 Florida.
The Bulldogs (19-16, 4-10 SEC) scored first but could not contain the Gators’ high-powered lineup in a 2-1 loss at Condron Ballpark in Gainesville.
The loss ended UGA’s five-game winning streak against Florida (29-7, 10-4). Georgia has lost four SEC games in the final inning this season.
Georgia reliever Chandler Marsh left an 0-2 fastball over the plate for Florida’s nine-hole hitter, who served a walkoff single into the gap between left and center field.
Marsh, who pitched a hitless eighth inning, led the ninth off with a walk and a double. Florida had two runners in scoring position with no outs.
“Chandler Marsh was really good in that first inning and going out there that second time, that’s a really tough lineup to navigate through,” UGA coach Scott Stricklin said. “The leadoff walk obviously hurt, and that was the difference.”
Stricklin did get another strong start from his pleasant surprise, Charlie Goldstein.
Goldstein threw five hitless innings before a run off a pair of doubles in the sixth ended his day. The lefthander finished with seven strikeouts, surrendering two hits and three walks for an earned run in five innings.
“We tried to get him through six and just got a little bit greedy there, but he was outstanding,” Stricklin said. “Man, he was really good.”
Goldstein might be the answer to Stricklin’s season-long search for a No. 3 weekend starter. His emergence is rather unexpected after a rocky first couple of seasons in Athens.
The Alpharetta product pitched sparingly in 2021 before never seeing the field last season. Goldstein was healthy in 2022 but never pitched despite a long list of injuries sustained by Georgia’s pitching staff.
Kolten Smith and Marsh provided three scoreless innings of relief before Marsh allowed the final run in the ninth.
Stricklin was particularly disappointed in Georgia’s hitters, especially after their dominant 13-run output last night.
“Offensively, we’ve got to find a way to score more runs,” he said. “You’re not going to win many when you score one.”
Georgia mustered just four hits and three walks on the day and struck out 10 times.
Parks Harber doubled and scored UGA’s only run on a fielder’s choice in the fifth inning. Harber finished 1-for-4 hitting with a double, a run and a strikeout.
Georgia will try to win its first series at Florida since 2006 at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Reigning SEC Pitcher of the Week Liam Sullivan will be on the mound for the Bulldogs against Florida’s two-way star, Jac Caglianone.
The Bulldogs played the heartbreaker role Friday night, using a seven-run ninth inning to shock the Gators in a 13-11 win.
A series win would be Stricklin’s first in Gainesville in his 10 years at Georgia.
