Alex Wood turned in Georgia’s second consecutive strong outing on the mound as the Bulldogs took their second straight from Ole Miss.
Wood followed in Michael Palazzone’s footsteps as he spearheaded a 6-3 win against 18th-ranked Ole Miss on Friday at Foley Field.
On Thursday Palazzone threw a complete game as Georgia won 8-4. Georgia (22-13, 7-7 Southeastern Conference) has won three straight games this week and earned its first SEC series victory since taking two of three from Tennessee on March 16-18.
Ole Miss dropped to 23-12, 6-8. Georgia will go for the series sweep at 1 p.m. today at Foley Field. Probable starters are Georgia left-hander Blake Dieterich (3-1, 1.82 ERA) and Ole Miss right-hander Mike Mayers (3-2, 3.99).
Wood pitched 7 1/3 innings, allowing eight hits and three runs (three earned) with seven strikeouts and two walks.
Georgia struck first with two runs in the second inning, all with two outs. Peter Verdin and Conor Welton hit back-to-back singles. Curt Powell followed with a two-RBI double to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead.
The Bulldogs led 5-1 going into the eighth when Wood ran into some trouble as Ole Miss’ Auston Bousfield led off with a single and Alex Yarbrough followed with a double. Bousfield and Yarbrough eventually scored, but Bryan Benzor put out the fire and Georgia led 5-3 going into the bottom of the eighth.
Georgia picked up an insurance run in the eighth when Welton doubled home Verdin.
Georgia struck for three more in the fourth inning, highlighted the first home run of Jared Walsh’s career. Welton also scored a run on the back end of a double steal to give Georgia a 4-0 lead. Levi Hyams’ sacrifice fly brought home Powell and Georgia led 5-0 going into the fifth.
