No. 9 Georgia chomps reeling Gators with series opening win

ATHENS -- Georgia baseball kept rolling through the SEC on Thursday at Foley Field, crushing Florida 9-4 for its eight-straight conference win.

The No. 9-ranked Bulldogs (39-12, 17-11 SEC) got on top of the Gators (26-26, 11-17) early and skated to victory behind a clinical outing from Kolten Smith. The sophomore right-hander preserved UGA’s bullpen with 8.0 innings of work, fanning a career-high 12 batters on 110 pitches.

Smith’s 12 strikeouts also marked the most by a Georgia pitcher this season. The Florida native pounded the zone, as 72 percent of his pitches were strikes despite surrendering just four hits.

Georgia coach Wes Johnson said Smith came off the mound after the seventh inning with 93 pitches declaring he would pitch the eighth inning.

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