University of Georgia Athletics
Homers, Strong Pitching Lift Bulldogs Past Vols
March 14, 2026 | Baseball, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
After Georgia's Ryan Black made contact at the plate in the bottom of the third inning, Tennessee's right fielder, Reese Chapman, barely bothered to move. It was about as no-doubt as a home run can get, soaring high and far over the wall in right field at Foley Field.
Facing a hard-throwing Volunteers pitcher in Landon Mack, a right-hander who regularly clocked 98 and 99 miles per hour, great swings can send the baseball traveling a long, long way. The inning before Black's blast, Michael O'Shaughnessy put the sixth-ranked Bulldogs ahead 1-0 with a solo shot into the trees in left-center field.
Black's two-run homer, after Cole Johnson singled to lead off the third, gave the Bulldogs (16-4, 1-1 SEC) a 3-0 lead over the No. 21-ranked Vols (14-5, 1-1). It was the second baseman's fifth bomb of the season and the NCAA-leading 64th hit by a Bulldog in 2026.
Tennessee's Blaine Brown led off the top of the fourth, against Georgia starter Dylan Vigue, with his own no-doubter to right, cutting Georgia's lead to 3-1.
A lot of baseball games turn into home run derbies these days, and for a while it looked like this one would, too. But the rest of the Bulldogs' 4-2 win in front of a crowd of 3,330 at Foley Field was about pitching, defense, and timely hits that stayed in the park.
The Vols added another run in the top of the fifth, this time on an RBI double to left. In the bottom of the sixth, with Mack still on the mound, O'Shaughnessy drew a leadoff walk, Henry Allen singled to left, and then Brennan Hudson drew a walk to load the bases with nobody out.
A Kolby Branch ground ball led to O'Shaughnessy being thrown out at the plate, but the Bulldogs still had the bases loaded when Tennessee brought in left-handed reliever Cam Appenzeller. Jack Arcamone welcomed him in with an RBI single to right field, scoring Allen from third base for a 4-2 lead.
In the seventh, right-handed Georgia reliever Caden Aoki gave up back-to-back one-out singles before getting out of the inning without any damage done. In the eighth, Tennessee had runners on second and third with one out. But Aiko again got out of trouble, striking out the next batter and then Tennessee flew out to center field.
"He's a guy who's been in the first, and those moments aren't too big for him," said Wes Johnson, Georgia's Ike Cousins Head Baseball Coach. "He was really call out there. He didn't get sped up and kept executing pitches. That's what it takes in those moments."
Situations like the jam in the eighth inning, Aoki said, are "fun."
"You want to pitch in those big moments, so I just had to attack the strike zone and keep playing loose, and keep going," he said.
Georgia got an O'Shaughnessy single to lead off the bottom of the eighth, but couldn't add any insurance runs. It didn't need them.
In the ninth, Aoki, who entered the game at the top of the sixth and pitched four scoreless innings, struck out the first two batters he faced, and then got Jay Abernathy to fly out to left to end the game. Aoki ended up with six strikeouts, a walk, and three hits allowed.
Offensively, Georgia had 11 hits — it's 14th game this season with at least 10 — two homers, and the Bulldogs drew four walks. Three Georgia pitchers combined to strike out 11 batters, walked just one, and allowed two runs on seven hits. Reliever Paul Farley, who faced just one batter after replacing Vigue with two away in the fifth, got the win, and Aoki earned the save.
With the win, Georgia evened the series with the Vols, who took Friday night's SEC opener, 7-4. The teams will wrap up the three-game set Sunday at 1 p.m.
Staff Writer
After Georgia's Ryan Black made contact at the plate in the bottom of the third inning, Tennessee's right fielder, Reese Chapman, barely bothered to move. It was about as no-doubt as a home run can get, soaring high and far over the wall in right field at Foley Field.
Facing a hard-throwing Volunteers pitcher in Landon Mack, a right-hander who regularly clocked 98 and 99 miles per hour, great swings can send the baseball traveling a long, long way. The inning before Black's blast, Michael O'Shaughnessy put the sixth-ranked Bulldogs ahead 1-0 with a solo shot into the trees in left-center field.
Black's two-run homer, after Cole Johnson singled to lead off the third, gave the Bulldogs (16-4, 1-1 SEC) a 3-0 lead over the No. 21-ranked Vols (14-5, 1-1). It was the second baseman's fifth bomb of the season and the NCAA-leading 64th hit by a Bulldog in 2026.
Tennessee's Blaine Brown led off the top of the fourth, against Georgia starter Dylan Vigue, with his own no-doubter to right, cutting Georgia's lead to 3-1.
A lot of baseball games turn into home run derbies these days, and for a while it looked like this one would, too. But the rest of the Bulldogs' 4-2 win in front of a crowd of 3,330 at Foley Field was about pitching, defense, and timely hits that stayed in the park.
The Vols added another run in the top of the fifth, this time on an RBI double to left. In the bottom of the sixth, with Mack still on the mound, O'Shaughnessy drew a leadoff walk, Henry Allen singled to left, and then Brennan Hudson drew a walk to load the bases with nobody out.
A Kolby Branch ground ball led to O'Shaughnessy being thrown out at the plate, but the Bulldogs still had the bases loaded when Tennessee brought in left-handed reliever Cam Appenzeller. Jack Arcamone welcomed him in with an RBI single to right field, scoring Allen from third base for a 4-2 lead.
In the seventh, right-handed Georgia reliever Caden Aoki gave up back-to-back one-out singles before getting out of the inning without any damage done. In the eighth, Tennessee had runners on second and third with one out. But Aiko again got out of trouble, striking out the next batter and then Tennessee flew out to center field.
"He's a guy who's been in the first, and those moments aren't too big for him," said Wes Johnson, Georgia's Ike Cousins Head Baseball Coach. "He was really call out there. He didn't get sped up and kept executing pitches. That's what it takes in those moments."
Situations like the jam in the eighth inning, Aoki said, are "fun."
"You want to pitch in those big moments, so I just had to attack the strike zone and keep playing loose, and keep going," he said.
Georgia got an O'Shaughnessy single to lead off the bottom of the eighth, but couldn't add any insurance runs. It didn't need them.
In the ninth, Aoki, who entered the game at the top of the sixth and pitched four scoreless innings, struck out the first two batters he faced, and then got Jay Abernathy to fly out to left to end the game. Aoki ended up with six strikeouts, a walk, and three hits allowed.
Offensively, Georgia had 11 hits — it's 14th game this season with at least 10 — two homers, and the Bulldogs drew four walks. Three Georgia pitchers combined to strike out 11 batters, walked just one, and allowed two runs on seven hits. Reliever Paul Farley, who faced just one batter after replacing Vigue with two away in the fifth, got the win, and Aoki earned the save.
With the win, Georgia evened the series with the Vols, who took Friday night's SEC opener, 7-4. The teams will wrap up the three-game set Sunday at 1 p.m.
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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