UGA Athletic Association
April 7, 2010
ATHENS----The 16th-ranked Clemson Tigers built a 9-0 lead after two innings and cruised to a 15-5 win over Georgia Tuesday in front of a crowd of 3,783 at Foley Field.
Georgia junior right-hander Eric Swegman, who was making his first appearance since March 9, failed to retire a batter before being replaced by senior Steve Esmonde. The first four Tigers reached on a single, two walks and a two-run double by Jeff Schaus (3-for-4, 3 RBI) . Esmonde allowed just a sacrifice fly before putting an end to the Tiger outburst but not before they had a 3-0 lead. Clemson (21-8) went right back to work in the second, adding six runs on eight hits to build a 9-0 advantage and chase Esmonde. He allowed five runs in the frame and then senior Justin Earls was the next Bulldog hurler.
Georgia (10-18) scratched for a run in the third courtesy of a two-out, RBI-double from sophomore Peter Verdin. It scored Kevin Ruiz (2-for-4) who notched a leadoff single. In the fourth, Bulldog sophomore Zach Cone collected his team-leading fifth triple, and it extended his hitting streak to 18 games. Freshman Robert Shipman drove him in with a groundout to second that Clemson senior Mike Freeman made a nifty play on for the first out.
Clemson added a run in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by John Hinson (2-for-3, 5 RBI) to make it 10-2. It was plenty of support for freshman Dominic Leone who notched the win to move his record to 2-0. He went six innings and surrendered just two runs on four hits with one walk and seven strikeouts. Swegman allowed three runs on two hits in the first and got the loss to fall to 0-2. Earls provided a strong relief outing, pitching four innings and giving up just one unearned run with no walks and five strikeouts.
Hinson connected for a grand slam in the eighth to put the Tigers ahead 15-2. The Bulldogs managed to score three runs in the ninth for the final margin. Freshman Todd Hankins had a pinch-hit, two-run single to highlight the frame.
