Georgia clinches series win over Auburn in regular-series finale
By David Wasson
Published:
The fifth-ranked Georgia baseball team clinched another series victory on Friday, downing fourth-ranked Auburn 9-7 in front of 5,566 at Plainsman Park in Auburn.
The win was Georgia’s 11th straight, a season high, and improved the SEC regular season champions to 43-11 overall and 23-6 in the SEC. Auburn (35-18, 16-13) has lost three straight heading into Saturday’s series finale (3 pm ET, SEC Network+).
Georgia won nine of its 10 league series – including all five on the road against ranked opponents. Auburn had won six straight SEC series before the Bulldogs arrived on the Plains this week. The Bulldogs will be the top seed in next week’s SEC Tournament, earning a double bye into the quarterfinals starting Thursday.
Georgia jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning via a two-run single by Ryan Wynn and a three-run home run from Jordy Oriach – his seventh homer of the season.
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The Bulldogs got another big swing in the fifth, this one from Kolby Branch – a three-run blast that made it 8-2. It was Branch’s 17th home run the season and 53rd of his career. Rylan Lujo smacked a solo homer in the sixth – giving Georgia an NCAA-best 145 home runs this season.
Georgia won nine of its 10 league series – including all five on the road against ranked opponents. Auburn had won six straight SEC series before the Bulldogs arrived on the Plains this week.
Bulldogs reliever Paul Farley (7-1) earned the victory, while Andreas Alvarez (8-3) took the loss. Zach Brown earned his first save of the season.
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
