Long Delay No Bother For Bulldogs
May 30, 2025 | Baseball, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
It was a long wait, well over three hours from the scheduled start time, before the Georgia baseball team took the field in the opening game of the NCAA Athens Regional on Friday afternoon. It clearly didn't bother the Bulldogs.
The afternoon storm that passed through delayed the noon first pitch between the seventh-seeded Bulldogs and Binghamton at Foley Field until 3:37, when Bulldog starting pitcher Leighton Finley fired a strike on the first pitch of the game. Many more strikes followed.
"I thought Leighton came out today and really set the tone in the first," said Wes Johnson, Georgia's Ike Cousins head baseball coach.Â
By 4:03, Georgia had hit two home runs and taken a 5-0 lead over the Bearcats from New York. Many more homers and runs followed.
Johnson added that "it never hurts to put up five in the first" inning. Definitely not, especially in the postseason.
By 4:09, after Finley had struck out the side in the second inning, the big right-hander already had five strikeouts. Much, much later, after a lot of hits and runs and Ks, the Bulldogs eventually walked off the field with a 20-4 win.
"That's a heck of a ball club we just played," said Binghamton coach Tim Sinicki, who is in his 33rd season coaching the Bearcats.Â
It was a long day at the ballpark for the Bulldogs (43-15) — even longer for the Bearcats (29-25), most likely — but these guys wouldn't rather be anywhere else. Particularly Tre Phelps and Daniel Jackson, both of whom homered twice. Jackson drove in six runs and scored three, while Phelps drove in five and scored four times.
"What's going good for me is trusting myself and not trying to pull the ball," Jackson said. "When I'm trying to pull a fastball, I feel like I can't really react to off-speed (pitches) very well. ... It's just trusting myself and trusting my body to take swings all the time."
Finley struck out two in the first, and then the Bulldog bats went to work against Binghamton's Brady Bouchard. Slate Alford led off the bottom of the inning with a double. Two batters later, Phelps' first homer barely cleared the wall in left field, making it 2-0. Not long after, Jackson hit the first of his two home runs, a three-run line drive that just stayed above the right-field wall, making it 5-0.
In the second, Finley struck out the first two batters looking and the third swinging. The Bulldog bats were quiet in the second, and then the Bearcats had their only success against Finley in the third, scoring a pair of runs on RBI singles to make it 5-2.
Was this going to be a tight game? It was not. Jackson hit a three-run homer with one away in the bottom of the third to make it 8-2, and the rout was fully on. Georgia added four more runs in the fourth and fifth innings to make it a 16-2 game. Phelps' second home run was a solo shot in the sixth.
"I think all you're seeing right now is a healthy, confident Tre Phelps, which is good," Johnson said. "We're excited it's happening right now."
Finley was pumped after his strikeout to end the top of the sixth. The game may have been a runaway at that point, but Finley was still intent on doing his job, which was to keep the Bearcat batters from doing theirs. Finley said his mindset was "just to go up there and have fun, you know, not trying to do too much."
In the top of the seventh, Finley walked the first batter and then got back-to-back groundouts. That's when Johnson came out to the mound to make a pitching change, ending Finley's afternoon and bringing in Zach Brown. In 6.2 innings, Finley struck out seven, walked one and allowed two runs on four hits. He received a big round of applause from the sellout crowd as he headed toward his teammates in front of the dugout.
"I wanted the fans to acknowledge him," Johnson said of making the change when he did.
Nolan McCarthy hit Georgia's fifth and final homer in a three-run eighth inning. He also had a double and drove in three runs in the game. Up next for Georgia is a Saturday matchup (6 p.m.) against the winner of Friday's late game between Duke and Oklahoma State.
It was a big day all around for the Bulldogs, one well worth the wait.
Staff Writer
It was a long wait, well over three hours from the scheduled start time, before the Georgia baseball team took the field in the opening game of the NCAA Athens Regional on Friday afternoon. It clearly didn't bother the Bulldogs.
The afternoon storm that passed through delayed the noon first pitch between the seventh-seeded Bulldogs and Binghamton at Foley Field until 3:37, when Bulldog starting pitcher Leighton Finley fired a strike on the first pitch of the game. Many more strikes followed.
"I thought Leighton came out today and really set the tone in the first," said Wes Johnson, Georgia's Ike Cousins head baseball coach.Â
By 4:03, Georgia had hit two home runs and taken a 5-0 lead over the Bearcats from New York. Many more homers and runs followed.
Johnson added that "it never hurts to put up five in the first" inning. Definitely not, especially in the postseason.
By 4:09, after Finley had struck out the side in the second inning, the big right-hander already had five strikeouts. Much, much later, after a lot of hits and runs and Ks, the Bulldogs eventually walked off the field with a 20-4 win.
"That's a heck of a ball club we just played," said Binghamton coach Tim Sinicki, who is in his 33rd season coaching the Bearcats.Â
It was a long day at the ballpark for the Bulldogs (43-15) — even longer for the Bearcats (29-25), most likely — but these guys wouldn't rather be anywhere else. Particularly Tre Phelps and Daniel Jackson, both of whom homered twice. Jackson drove in six runs and scored three, while Phelps drove in five and scored four times.
"What's going good for me is trusting myself and not trying to pull the ball," Jackson said. "When I'm trying to pull a fastball, I feel like I can't really react to off-speed (pitches) very well. ... It's just trusting myself and trusting my body to take swings all the time."
Finley struck out two in the first, and then the Bulldog bats went to work against Binghamton's Brady Bouchard. Slate Alford led off the bottom of the inning with a double. Two batters later, Phelps' first homer barely cleared the wall in left field, making it 2-0. Not long after, Jackson hit the first of his two home runs, a three-run line drive that just stayed above the right-field wall, making it 5-0.
In the second, Finley struck out the first two batters looking and the third swinging. The Bulldog bats were quiet in the second, and then the Bearcats had their only success against Finley in the third, scoring a pair of runs on RBI singles to make it 5-2.
Was this going to be a tight game? It was not. Jackson hit a three-run homer with one away in the bottom of the third to make it 8-2, and the rout was fully on. Georgia added four more runs in the fourth and fifth innings to make it a 16-2 game. Phelps' second home run was a solo shot in the sixth.
"I think all you're seeing right now is a healthy, confident Tre Phelps, which is good," Johnson said. "We're excited it's happening right now."
Finley was pumped after his strikeout to end the top of the sixth. The game may have been a runaway at that point, but Finley was still intent on doing his job, which was to keep the Bearcat batters from doing theirs. Finley said his mindset was "just to go up there and have fun, you know, not trying to do too much."
In the top of the seventh, Finley walked the first batter and then got back-to-back groundouts. That's when Johnson came out to the mound to make a pitching change, ending Finley's afternoon and bringing in Zach Brown. In 6.2 innings, Finley struck out seven, walked one and allowed two runs on four hits. He received a big round of applause from the sellout crowd as he headed toward his teammates in front of the dugout.
"I wanted the fans to acknowledge him," Johnson said of making the change when he did.
Nolan McCarthy hit Georgia's fifth and final homer in a three-run eighth inning. He also had a double and drove in three runs in the game. Up next for Georgia is a Saturday matchup (6 p.m.) against the winner of Friday's late game between Duke and Oklahoma State.
It was a big day all around for the Bulldogs, one well worth the wait.
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files.
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