ATHENS, Ga. – The Wofford baseball team played it close against the No. 15 team in the country for six innings Tuesday evening, but back-to-back innings with two-run homers for Georgia in the seventh and eighth secured a 7-1 win for the Bulldogs at Foley Field. The Terriers drop to 2-2 in the young season, while the Bulldogs remain perfect at 4-0.
 
Matthew Marchal was assessed the loss after tossing 1.0 inning in a starting role. He surrendered only one hit and one walk, fanning three. He allowed one run, an unearned run by virtue of an error. The junior is now 0-2 on the season.
 
Six different Terriers took the bump in what was a bullpen game for Wofford. Dom Agron tossed 3.1 innings as the first to relieve Marchal, a career-high. He also tallied a new career-best with four punchouts. He allowed a run on three hits and a walk. Lucas Mahlstedt pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, allowing just a walk. Andrew Herrmann made his collegiate debut with 0.2 innings of work, as he alongside Carter Bailey and Holden Wilder combined to pitch the final 2.0 innings.
 
The win was credited to Luke Wager of the Bulldogs, as he was the first out of the pen in 2.1 innings of relief. He surrendered one hit and two walks, striking out five for a scoreless outing.
 
Both clubs were forced into their bullpens early after a lengthy 22-minute delay occurred with two outs in the top of the second. The lights at Foley Field unexpectedly went out, and though the sun was still out, play halted until they came back on. They delay was long enough for both sides to elect for fresher arms, with Wagner taking the hill to resume play for Georgia and Agron taking the bump for Wofford in the bottom of the second to replace Marchal.
 
Georgia's pitching staff held the Terrier bats in check after a big weekend of 37 runs and 33 hits in three games against George Mason. Wofford only recorded two hits in the contest, those off the bats of Brennen Dorighi and Ryan Galanie. Dorighi knocked in the lone run for Wofford. The Terriers continued to work the count well, though, receiving six free passes on the night thanks to five different players, John Dempsey being the lone batter to work two walks.
 
Georgia struck first with an RBI single to left field in the bottom of the first inning.
 
The Bulldogs added another run with back-to-back doubles in the bottom of the third, extending their lead to 2-0.
 
The Terriers found some life in the top of fourth after Lawson Hill led-off the inning with a walk. Wofford eventually loaded the bases with two outs, and Zeb Roos stood at the dish with a 1-2 count. The fourth pitch of the at-bat hit him, but after a replay review (one of three in the game), the ruling was changed to a dead ball strike, resulting in a strikeout to strand three runners on.
 
The pitching staffs for both squads were rolling, with neither relenting any runs for 3 full innings from the fourth through the sixth. The game remained tight, with only two runs separating the squads.
 
That changed when Georgia doubled its lead in the bottom of the seventh inning. After a leadoff single, Wofford secured two outs and was poised to get out of the inning unscathed. However, with a full count, the Bulldogs hit a two-run home run to right field to make it a 4-0 ballgame.
 
It did not take the Terriers long to respond. In the top of the eighth, Jack Renwick worked a walk, and with two outs in the inning he swiped second base. Brennen Dorighi then ripped a single into right field to plate Renwick for Wofford's first run of the night. The score stood at 4-1 in favor of the Bulldogs in the middle of the eighth.
 
But Georgia immediately got that run back and then some in the bottom of the frame. With a runner on third base, a single through right side made it a four-run game once more. After a flyout, a two-run homer to right field in a second-straight inning extended Georgia's lead to 7-1.
 
Wofford had a mountain to climb in its final trip to the plate, and the deficit proved too much. Roos worked a two-out walk to try to spark a comeback, but a flyout by the next batter sealed the game, a 7-1 loss to Georgia.
 
Wofford travels now to Greenville, S.C. for a pair of neutral site games at Fluor Field in the Notre Dame Irish Classic. First, the Terriers matchup with Monmouth on Friday at 12:00 p.m. The second contest is against Marist on Saturday morning at 11:00 a.m. Wofford then returns home on Sunday to face Monmouth once more. First pitch at Russell C. King Field is set for 1:00 p.m. to conclude the weekend.