ATHENS, Ga. --- Redshirt sophomore Logan McRae (Florence, S.C.) drove in three runs with a 4-for-4 effort, and redshirt junior Bailey Ober (Charlotte, N.C.) fanned nine in six and two-thirds innings of work, as the College of Charleston baseball team opened the 2017 season with a 9-3 win over the University of Georgia on Friday evening.
 
With the win, the College of Charleston (1-0) picks up its first-ever win over Georgia (0-1), as the Cougars scored nine runs on 12 hits. Ober, Justin Baker (Huntersville, N.C.), and Christian Shiver (Monroe, Ga.) combined to allow three runs on seven hits.
 
McRae paced the Cougars with four of the team's 12 hits – including a double – while Dupree Hart (Rock Hill, S.C.) and Luke Manzo (Marietta, Ga.) both tallied two base knocks. Danny Wondrack (Wall, N.J.), Joey Mundy (Huntington, W.Va.), and Clay Hunt (Fort Mill, S.C.) each drove in a run.
 
Ober picked up the win to move into a tie for 10^th on the program's all-time list, as the 6-9, 250-pound righty allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits while striking out eight. Baker tossed two shutout innings, before Shiver came in to retire the final out.
 
Will Campbell and Michael Curry each picked up two hits for Georgia. Kevin Smith took the loss for the Bulldogs, surrendering five runs (four earned) on five hits and striking out four.
 
Hunt got the offense going in the second, plating McRae with a liner to left that skipped under the left-fielder's glove and to the wall for a triple. The Bulldogs tied it up at 1-1 in the bottom of the third, when Tucker Bradley reached on an error by the Cougar center field which allowed Will Proctor to score from second.
 
The College regained the advantage in the next half inning after McRae doubled, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a second wild pitch to put CofC ahead, 2-1. Charleston added three runs in the fifth on back-to-back-to-back RBI singles by Wondrack, Mundy, and McRae to push the lead to 5-1.
 
Three more runs in the sixth extended the advantage to 8-1, with Manzo scampering home on a wild pitch before McRae drove in Bradley Dixon (Greenwood, S.C.) and Hart with a two-run single to right. Georgia answered in the home half with two runs after Will Campbell plated Cam Shepherd with a double, and Michael Curry drove in Campbell with a single to left.
 
Charleston would add a run in the top of the ninth when McRae led off with a single and later scored on a wild pitch.
 
The Cougars and Bulldogs will return to the diamond for game two of the weekend series on Saturday, with Carter Love (Charlotte, N.C.) matching up with Tony Locey (Columbus, Ga.). First pitch is slated for 1:02 pm on SEC+.