The Red and Black

Issue date: 4/10/08 Section: Sports

PEISEL [Click to enlarge]

BASEBALL GA Tech 9, Georgia 4

ATLANTA - The Diamond Dogs' offensive woes continued and the usually sturdy bullpen didn't help Wednesday, as Georgia lost its second straight game, this time 9-4 to Georgia Tech.

After winning seven in a row, the Bulldogs (20-12, 9-3 SEC) now have lost two consecutive for just the third time this season. They also lost 5-1 to Winthrop at home Tuesday.

"I said it last night, the hitting's got to get better," said shortstop Gordon Beckham, the only Bulldog with two hits. "We've got to be tougher outs, and we've got to score more runs for these pitchers because they've really been picking us up lately."

Third baseman Ryan Peisel led off the game with a single, but the Bulldogs didn't chart their next hit until 16 batters later in the sixth inning. Going into last weekend's series with South Carolina, Georgia had averaged 7.96 runs per game - the Diamond Dogs have averaged just three in the last five.

The Georgia bullpen faltered for the first time since April 1, allowing eight runs in seven innings of work. It hadn't allowed a single run in its previous 26.2 innings.

"They've been great," Beckham said of the bullpen. "My whole point is we've got to score some runs for them because they're not always going to be that great, and Georgia Tech exploited that tonight."

The game was tied at one after the third inning, but the Yellow Jackets scored two runs each in the fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth innings. Junior Luke Murton went four for five for Tech, with a home run, three RBI and two runs scored.

Freshman starter Deck McGuire gave the Yellow Jackets 5.2 innings with three earned runs and seven strikeouts. Georgia's first run came without the benefit of a hit, and Peisel drove in two more without hits, on a ground-out and a sacrifice fly.

Going into a big conference series with Kentucky (25-5, 7-5 SEC) this weekend, the Bulldogs will have to return to the offensive prowess they have shown all season. Going into Wednesday's action, the Wildcats (ranked No. 17 by Baseball America) led the SEC in batting average, runs and ERA.

"Our batting average not too long ago was about .315, and we've gone backward for about three weeks now," Georgia coach Dave Perno said. "Hopefully we're at the bottom of that."

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