ATHENS, Ga.--- The No. 20 Georgia Bulldogs beat Georgia State 10-7 Tuesday at Foley Field.

The Bulldogs (21-11) struck for five runs on four hits in the first, sending 10 to the plate and chasing senior starter Tyler Koch. A three-run triple by Chaney Rogers keyed the rally with Connor Tate and Parks Harber also notching an RBI. In the top of the third, Griffin Cheney got the Panthers on the board with an RBI-single to make it 5-1. In the bottom of the sixth, freshman Corey Collins collected his third hit of the contest including second double to extend the lead to 6-1. With two outs and the bases loaded in the seventh, Collins, Tate and Josh Stinson picked up RBI on walks and Garrett Blaylock got one when he was hit by a pitch for a 10-2 advantage. In the ninth, the Panthers scored four runs to close the gap before the Bulldogs secured the victory.

Georgia employed seven pitchers with freshman Hank Bearden improving to 3-0. He provided 2.1 scoreless innings of relief with three strikeouts. Koch got the loss to fall to 0-1 and the Panthers dropped to 8-26.

Georgia continues a five-game home stand Friday when it resumes SEC action against Kentucky. First pitch is scheduled for 6:02 p.m. ET on SEC Network+ and can be heard on the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network.

Georgia’s Ike Cousins Head Baseball Coach Scott Stricklin

On the game

“It’s never over until you get 27 outs, there’s no clock. You could see it in their dugout when they got it to 10-6 with no outs in the ninth. It was encouraging to see Liam (Sullivan) come in and close it out. We gave up some runs in the ninth, but I thought we played pretty well. We got (Max) DeJong and Brandon Smith their first action. Smith is 13 months removed from Tommy John surgery, and that’s always a big moment when you get back out there for the first time. I thought Corey Collins did a really good job behind the plate in his first start there. He was locked in at the plate too.”

Hank Bearden, RHP, Fr.

On getting experience

“We’ve been getting a lot of guys experience this year, and it was good to see Max (DeJong) and Brandon (Smith) back out there and get some innings under their belt. The older guys have been helping us get used to everything.”

Corey Collins, C, Fr.

On his first start behind the plate

“It felt good to be back there for the first time in about a year and a half. I was working on getting on the same page with the guys and then keeping a good approach when I was at the plate. Tonight was a good win, and we need to keep our foot on the gas pedal. We just have to grind it out and keep it going.”

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