Senior Mickey Westphal crafted a six-hit shutout to lead Georgia (26-16/8-11 SEC) to a 7-0 victory over Florida (24-21/6-13 SEC) on Friday night at McKethan Stadium. The southpaw (4-0) tossed his second complete-game of the year with six strikeouts and zero walks. Junior Joey Side went 3-for-4 with four RBI courtesy of a double, triple and a two-run homer and senior Jason Jacobs was 2-for-4 to lead the Bulldogs’ 10-hit attack. Sophomore Bryan Augenstein (Sebastian, Fla.)  (8-3, 2.57), the SEC's leader in victories, will face UGA junior right-hander Brooks Brown (4-3, 3.84), on Saturday at 4 p.m. in game two of the series.

“Georgia got the game going right out of the chute tonight,” said head coach Pat McMahon. “Mickey (Westphal) mixed his pitches well. I was proud of the way Bryan (Ball) fought back after the first inning. We just couldn’t string the runs together at the plate. We have to get the line drives and ground balls to make those offensive plays.”

Georgia jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead with three hits off senior Bryan Ball (Punta Gorda, Fla.) in the first frame. Junior Jonathan Wyatt drew a leadoff walk and scored on Side’s fourth triple of the campaign. Sophomore Gordon Beckham followed with an RBI single up the middle but was erased at second base on a fielder’s choice by Josh Morris. Senior Jason Jacobs ripped his 10th double of the year to bring home Morris and put the Dawgs ahead by three runs.  

In the second, senior Matthew Dunn sliced a one-out single through the left side, stole second and advanced to third when the relay throw wound up in center field. After Ball had Wyatt ground out, the righty issued a free pass to Side. Junior Brian Leclerc (Clearwater, Fla.) made a spectacular diving catch near the right-field line to rob Beckham of potential extra bases to end the frame.  

Wyatt started the fifth with a triple to right field but was stranded to keep the margin at 3-0. Ball set down Side on a grounder to third and had Beckham line out to shortstop before plunking Morris. The right-hander induced an inning-ending fly ball into left by Felmy.

UGA extended its lead to 4-0 in the sixth on an RBI fielder’s choice by sophomore Ryan Peisel. Jacobs reached on an infield hit to start the inning and advanced to second on a throwing error and sophomore Matt Olson legged out a single for runners on the corners. After Peisel’s grounder to third plated Jacobs and erased Olson at second, Ball prevented further trouble by having Dunn line into a 9-3 double play.

A two-run homer in the seventh by Side ended the night for Ball (4-7), who allowed eight hits and six runs (five earned) with four walks and three strikeouts. Wyatt drew a leadoff walk and Side cranked a 1-2 offering into the left-field bleachers for his eighth dinger of the campaign for a 6-0 cushion. Sophomore Josh Edmondson (LaGrange, Ga.) replaced Ball and threw two perfect frames with two K.

The Bulldogs finalized the scoring in the ninth on a double into shallow right field by Side. Pinch hitter Kyle Keen greeted freshman reliever J.K. LaCoste (Jacksonville, Fla.) with a leadoff triple down the right-field line and Side’s two-bagger provided a final count of 7-0. Georgia held a 10-6 advantage in hits and each squad stranded six baserunners. The duo of junior David Cash (Odessa, Fla.) (3-for-4) and Leclerc (2-for-3) led the Gators.

Game Notes

• The Gators slipped to 1-6 in SEC series openers.
• Florida was blanked for the fifth time this year.
• Gavin Dickey’s career-high 11-game hitting streak came to an end with an 0-for-4 performance.
• Tonight was Greg Quatrino’s first career start. He was 0-for-3 as the designated hitter.
• Brian Jeroloman caught Bobby Felmy trying to swipe second, the first time this season Felmy had been caught stealing.

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