OMAHA, Neb. – Dylan Vigue and Justin Byrd combined on a four-hit shutout to lead the third-ranked Bulldogs to a 2-0 win over sixth-ranked Texas Tuesday to advance to the College World Series semifinals in front of a Schwab Stadium crowd of 24,324.
Fast Facts
• With tonight’s victory, Georgia (53-13) set the school record for wins in a season. The 1990 national championship team went 52-19.
• Tonight marked Georgia’s first shutout in the CWS since 1990 when Dave Fleming blanked Mississippi State 3-0.
• In a pitcher’s duel Tuesday, senior Tre Phelps notched Georgia’s first hit with one out in the fifth, and it was a run-scoring double. Senior Brennan Hudson scored after reaching with a leadoff walk, took second on senior Kolby Branch’s first sacrifice bunt of his career and moved to third on a groundout by senior Ryan Black.
• Junior right-hander Dylan Vigue started and provided four scoreless innings on two hits with two walks and eight strikeouts before being lifted after a leadoff walk in the fifth.
• Leading 1-0 with one on and nobody out in the fifth, Georgia turned to junior Justin Byrd (6-2) and he maintained the advantage, tossing five scoreless frames with four strikeouts. Texas starter Luke Harrison (6-4) had 11 strikeouts in 5.2 innings.
• In the seventh, Rylan Lujo made it 2-0 with a sacrifice fly as Ryan Black raced home and beat the throw by shortstop Adrian Rodriguez who caught a shallow pop up and bumped into left fielder Anthony Pack Jr.
• Tonight’s 2-0 win marked Georgia’s seventh shutout of the year and the 32nd time this season that Georgia held its opponent to three runs or less.
Key Quotes
Ike Cousins Head Baseball Coach Wes Johnson
On the game…
“With the conditions and the flags blowing in like they were, we knew it was going to be a pitching duel. I know some balls were hit hard and didn’t make it to the warning track. Their guy (Luke Harrison) came out and was electric. I told our guys you have to keep battling. It’s going to be tough to score on both sides. I thought Dylan (Vigue) came out and got us off to a really good start. He had eight “punchies” (strikeouts) through four innings. Then, Justin Byrd came in and attacked the strike zone, forced contact, early swings and that was a key. As crazy as this sounds, we bunted tonight. That was our third sacrifice of the year as it was just going to be that kind of night. We scored the second run that the ball went 40 behind third base. I’m proud of our guys.”
Tre Phelp | Sr. | 3B
On his performance…
“Wes (Johnson) talked to us before the game and said no matter if you’re 0-for-5 or 5-for-5, I want to see you have fun. I kept that going after I was 0-for-2 with strikeouts. I was like whatever, let’s get to the next at bat and have fun and good things possibly may happen, and if they don’t, have fun.”
Dylan Vigue | Jr. | RHP
On his performance…
“First, I want to start out by thanking the coaches, the training staff as I had quite the bruise on my leg from my last outing. They have been tirelessly working on it, getting treatment and getting me back to 100 percent. I want to thank Coach Johnson for giving me the chance tonight and still believing in me. The past month hasn’t been how me or anybody else wanted it to go for me but just to have Coach Johnson’s belief in me and that ignites a flame in me. He told me pregame this is why you’re here for moments like this and that helped my confidence.”
Up Next
Georgia (53-13) will face Oklahoma (40-22) Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET here at the CWS. The game will be televised by ESPN and available on the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network. The Bulldogs must beat the Sooners Wednesday and again Thursday to advance to the CWS Finals that starts Saturday night.