It took seven innings before the Diamond Dogs’ bats finally swung into motion last night.

In the end, the last two were the only ones that mattered.

Down six runs in the fifth, Georgia (4-4) cut No. 22 Winthrop’s lead to one in the eighth inning before stealing a 7-6 win on an overthrow by third baseman Kevin Nolan.

“Hopefully, a game like this will jump start our season and be a defining win for us,” said second baseman Mike Freeman, whose double sparked the charge in the ninth.

Third baseman Ryan Peisel drove in Freeman with a single and scored the decisive run from second (his third of the night) on Nolan’s miscue.

“I saw (third base coach Doug) Sisk’s hand go up and ran on instinct, but by the time I turned around and watched it was in the outfield,” Peisel said.

The rally disguised how lifeless Georgia’s bats were early on, managing just four hits through the first five innings and getting only one runner in scoring position on a two-out double by Jonathan Wyatt.

Georgia took advantage with back-to-back doubles from Wyatt and shortstop Gordon Beckham and an RBI single from catcher Joey Lewis to make it 6-5.

“That guy (Schwartz) was like the big bad wolf blowing us down in the first few innings,” Peisel said. “We just kept grinding and fighting through it.”

In contrast, Georgia’s trio of Jason Leaver, Ryan Woolley and Justin Earls stopped the bleeding with four scoreless innings of relief.

“Our pitching was our best offense tonight,” Coach David Perno said.

“We were really spent from long innings early, and (things settled down) once we got Leaver in there.”