CORVALLIS, Ore. — Levi Hyams led off the game with a homer, and Brett DeLoach hit a three-run shot in the fifth inning to help Georgia defeat Arkansas-Little Rock 7-3 on Saturday in an elimination game in the NCAA Corvallis Regional.
Georgia (32-31) advanced to a game at 4 p.m. today against the Oregon State-Creighton loser from Saturday night.
Georgia starting pitcher Alex Wood (6-7) said Hyams’ homer was a good sign for his team, coming off a 2-1 loss to Creighton on Friday.
“I definitely had a little weight lifted off my shoulders,” Wood said. “I knew we would score some runs today. It was a weight off of me, I think a weight off of everybody.”
DeLoach’s homer made the score 5-0, but Arkansas-Little Rock (24-34) came back with three runs in the bottom of the inning — two on Jason Houston’s two-out single.
Georgia answered with two runs in the sixth to go back ahead by four runs. Both runs came with two outs, the first on a passed ball and the second on a throwing error.
“We’ve had a lot of losses. We’ve had to bounce back a ton. We’re accustomed to it,” Georgia coach David Perno said. “I thought the only piece we missed [Friday] was offensive pressure. We did a much better job from that standpoint today.”
Hyams was 4-for-5 and scored three runs. His homer to lead off the game marked the first time a Georgia player had done that since Zach Cone in the 2009 NCAA Tallahassee Regional against Ohio State. On Saturday, Cone was 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Houston was 3-for-4 for Arkansas-Little Rock. Calvin Drinnen (6-7) took the loss.
“We can play with Georgia. We can play with Oregon State,” Trojans coach Scott Norwood said. “People told us we could not do things at this place.”
