ATHENS, Ga. — Fifth-ranked Georgia defeated 14th-ranked Georgia Tech 5-2 at Truist Park to win the Spring Classic benefiting Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) on Tuesday.
With the score even at two in the fourth, senior Devin Obee launched a solo blast to record his 10th home run of the year. Two batters later, junior Kolby Branch blasted a two-run shot to put the Bulldogs up 5-2. Branch has homered five times in the last five games.
"I thought the game was really slow for Kolby [Branch] tonight," Georgia coach Wes Johnson said. "I'll start with him. He got a pitch out over the plate. A lot of people forget how many homers he hit last year. I think he had 18 last year. He's got a lot of juice in his bat. Then what Devin [Obee]'s been doing, he got a pitch and backed it up. Obviously, he's very strong, and he was able to run it out of here and break that tie. Those were big."
Georgia used 10 pitchers on the night, with junior Alton Davis II (3-0) earning the win. Sophomore Jordan Stephens recorded the final three outs to tally his third save of the year. Graduate Charlie Goldstein struck out the side in the sixth after coming in in relief.
"I would just say coming in and commanding the strike zone," Davis II said. "Wes (Johnson) told a lot of us that we were going to get one inning or some of us one or two batters, and coming in and executing the pitches in the strike zone and just commanding is what we needed to do. I would say everybody did what they were supposed to do."
Georgia leads 15-7 in the annual Spring Classic series that has been played in the Atlanta Braves' stadium or their Triple-A park since 2003. This is the first matchup at Truist Park.
"It's very important, but I think with the league we play in, it's more important to come out and play good baseball," Johnson said about beating rival Georgia. "They're a really, really good team. I don't want to misspeak here, but I think maybe they're at the top of the ACC. I know they've got a few more games than some other people. For us, it was more about, 'Hey, we're going to play a good baseball team, regardless of where they are, who they are, and what their jersey says. We're playing a quality team, and we want to go out and play good baseball against them because when we're heading to Vanderbilt, that's what we're going to get."
Up Next
Georgia (33-6, 10-5 SEC) will next travel to Nashville, Tennessee, for a three-game series against No. 19 Vanderbilt (26-10, 8-7 SEC) beginning Thursday at 7 p.m.
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