No. 5 Texas mounts comeback against No. 3 Georgia in 7-4 victory

The Horns scored seven unanswered runs after falling behind early.

The No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs surged out to a 4-0 lead by the fourth inning against the No. 5 Texas Longhorns on Saturday at UFCU Disc-Falk Field, but head coach Jim Schlossnagle’s team bounced back to the secure the high-profile SEC series by scoring seven unanswered runs in a rally started by a two-run home run from sophomore designated hitter Jaquae Stewart in the fifth inning, his first in burnt orange.

Some sloppy defense hurt the Horns in the first inning when a two-out throwing error by junior shortstop Jalin Flores on a routine play resulted in a double down the right-field line to score an unearned run against redshirt junior left-hander Luke Harrison.

In the third inning, Harrison suffered from some self-inflicted mistakes, allowing a leadoff walk, committing a balk, and hitting a batter before giving up two runs on a double, once again down the right-field line, and a fielder’s choice.

Georgia expanded the margin in the fourth inning. Harrison looked like he might work around a leadoff single by retiring the next two batters, but a third double down the right-field line scored the runner from first.

Harrison settled in and was able to get some length in his outing and keep the Longhorns in the game by keeping the Bulldogs from getting on the scoreboard again, giving way to junior right-hander Max Grubbs after giving up a two-out single in the sixth inning having allowed three earned runs on six hits with nine strikeouts and a walk. The nine strikeouts are a career high for Harrison.

With the Texas lineup depleted by the injuries to junior right fielder Max Belyeu and freshman third baseman Adrian Rodriguez, the Horns were often overmatched by the mid-90s fastball of Bulldogs starter Brian Curley, who has a unique arm for a 5’10, 212-pounder.

Texas helped Curley at times by chasing high fastballs and didn’t make the Georgia starter work particularly hard over the first few innings.

The Longhorns were able to draw several walks, but still didn’t have a hit when sophomore third baseman Casey Borba took some close fastballs from Curley to draw a seven-pitch walk to lead off the fifth inning.

Stewart changed that by ambushing a first-pitch, 93-mph fastball from Curley, sending it 409 feet off the bat at 106 mph to cut the Georgia lead in half.

The Horns kept some pressure on Curley, making him deal with multiple runners on base for the first time with two singles, but the VCU transfer recorded all three outs on strikeouts, including Flores and junior catcher Rylan Galvan to end the inning.

Against a Georgia bullpen that has pitched at a high level this season, Texas only managed a two-out double in the sixth inning, but the seventh inning became the game’s decisive frame when the Horns scored five runs to take the lead.

Sophomore right fielder Tommy Farmer struck out swinging the open the inning, but saw six pitches, and sophomore left fielder Easton Winfield drew a walk before departing in favor of junior Jayden Duplantier as a pinch runner. One of the biggest plays of the game was an error by the Bulldogs right fielder misplaying a ball in the wind, putting runners on second and third.

Flores worked a 3-1 count and took advantage of a high fastball without the velocity that most of the Georgia pitchers had on Saturday, driving the 91-mph pitch to the wall in center field to score two runs and tie the game.

After a pitching change, Galvan drew a walk and sophomore center fielder Will Gasparino came up with another important swing for the Longhorns, timing up a 2-2 fastball that caught too much of the middle of the plate, lacing it into the left-center gap.

On a heads up play, Gasparino took third when the throw home got away from the catcher, setting up senior first baseman Kimble Schuessler to score another run and Schuessler came through, lofting a sacrifice fly to right field that was deep enough Gasparino didn’t draw a throw.

Grubbs slammed the door on the Bulldogs to take the series, retiring all six batters he faced over the final two innings to record his third win of the season.

Texas goes for the sweep at 1 p.m. Central on Sunday on SEC Network+.