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.
