Sports

FINAL: Clemson hangs on for the 5-2 victory. The three-run homer by Miller in the first proves to be the difference in this game. Georgia never could rebound after that. Georgia struggled to cash in with runners on the base paths by leaving 6 men on base in the last 4 innings alone. Conor Welton led UGA at the plate going 3-4 and fellow freshman, Brandon Stephens, added two hits and played outstanding behind the plate. Clemson used 5 pitchers, 4 after the sixth, and Georgia used 6. Sarratt picks up the win for Clemson making him 3-1, and Cornwell picks up the loss, moving to 1-3. That is all from Foley field today. Georgia loses and moves back to .500. Georgia will travel to Knoxville this weekend to take on the Vols and to Turner Field to play the Jackets then back to Athens for Arkansas. Tune in next weekend!

Bottom of the 9th: Clemson 5 UGA 2: DeLoach leads off the bottom of the ninth with a groundout to the shortstop for the first out. Verdin, in his second at-bat, singles to left to reach base for the second time in as many tries. Up comes Powell, who strikes out for the second out. Austin Wheeler pinch hits for Brandon Stephens, and that move by Coach Perno prompts Coach Leggett to call for the bullpen. Scott Weismann comes in to attempt to end the game. Wheeler does just that and strikes out to end the game.

Top of the 9th: Clemson 4 UGA 2: Tyler Maloof will take over on the mound after Herman ended the last inning. Epps leads off the ninth and grounds one up the middle for a single. Stolz sacrifices and moves Epps to second and into scoring position. Hinson steps in and grounds to Hyams and Epps advances to third. Epps scores on a wild pitch that went behind the DH Pohl. Maloof is able to strike out Pohl to end the inning though. Heading to the ninth, its Tigers 5 and the Dogs 2.

Bottom of the 8th: Clemson 4 UGA 1: Joseph Moorefield comes in to take the mound. Haselden is done after pitching one scoreless inning. Hyams starts the Dogs’ half of the eighth with a strikeout to bring up Welton. Welton skews one in to left field for his third hit of the game; the Dogs now have speed on the base paths, and Moorefield’s day is done. Jonathan Meyer will take the ball from him to face Farmer. Welton advances a base on a wild pitch by Meyer. Farmer grounds out to the shortstop but Welton takes third and is 90 feet away. Cone gets an infield single and Welton crosses the plate for the Dogs second run. Cone gets in scoring position on an errant pickoff throw by Meyer. Hester can’t cash in though as he flies to left. Dogs add one though to make it 4-2.

Top of the 8th: Clemson 4 UGA 1: Schaus leads off the eighth for Clemson with a single over the leaping Hyams. Shaffer then flies out in foul territory right next to the Dogs’ dugout for the first out. Schaus steals second without a throw from Stephens–as he got a good jump off Dieterich. Miller pushes the count full and draws the walk to put two men on base for the center fielder Lamb. Lamb strikes out and that will end Dieterich’s day. John Herman will come in to face Kieboom and will also inherit the two base runners from Dieterich. Kieboom flares one to shallow center that is caught by a retreating Hyams to end the inning. UGA dodges a bullet there.

Bottom of the 7th: Clemson 4 UGA 1: Sarratt’s day is done after 6 solid innings. David Hasledon comes on to face the leadoff man Hester, who shoots a single up the middle. Brett DeLoach comes in as a pinch hitter for DH Chase Davidson (0-2). DeLoach grounds into a fielder’s choice and replaces Hester at first. Peter Verdin pinch hits for RF Kevin Ruiz (0-2). Verdin takes one off the thigh to take first on the hit by pitch. Yet another pinch hitter, Curt Powell pinch hits for 3B Colby May (0-2) and flies the first pitch to deep center for the second out. Stephens strikes out to end the inning and Verdin and DeLoach are left on base. Heading to the 8th, Clemson 4 and UGA 1.

Top of the 7th: Clemson 3 UGA 1: #7 Earl Daniels comes in to take the ball from Hawkins, who is off after 2 2/3 innings pitched. He gave up no runs. Lamb leads off for the Tigers and flies out to foul territory in left field for the first out. Kieboom steps in and hits a double to right center to put a runner in scoring position for Clemson. Epps walks and a force is set up at any base. Stolz strikes out looking for the second out, and Daniels’ day is done. Perno opts to set up the lefty-lefty matchup and brings in Blake Dieterich to face Hinson. Hinson singles to left center to plate Kieboom and Epps advances to third to put runners on the corners. Pohl flies to right to end the inning. Clemson adds one to their lead.

Bottom of the 6th: Clemson 3 UGA 1: Stephens leads off the inning with his second hit on the day, grounding it by a diving third baseman into left field. Hyams reaches first on a fielder’s choice after the second baseman forces Stephens at second. Welton shoots one to left for his second hit of the day. Runners on first and second. Farmer hits a 375-foot, towering fly to left that tails just foul, much to the dismay of fans, and then flies out to right. Hyams tags and goes to third. Cone grounds to the shortstop who tosses it to second to end the inning. Dogs leave two runners on base.

Top of the 6th: Clemson 3 UGA 1: Schaus pops out to third to begin the sixth. Shaffer flies to the right fielder for the second out. Miller grounds out to Hyams to end the inning, and the Tigers go 3 up, 3 down as well.

Bottom of the 5th: Clemson 3 UGA 1: Davidson starts the inning off with a strikeout. Ruiz hits it right back to the pitcher, who throws on to first for the second out. May ends the inning with a strikeout and UGA goes 3 up, 3 down.

Top of the 5th: Clemson 3 UGA 1: Epps is back up to lead off and bunts one in the air that is caught by Hester. Stolz hits one to center that falls in front of Cone for a single. The  Tigers are back to the top in Hinson and he hits a grounder to Hyams who forces Stolz at second. Hinson beats it out and is on first per fielder’s choice. Farmer makes a spectacular play on Pohl’s grounder up the middle and tosses it from his stomach to Hyams who is at second to force Hinson. Halfway through the game, Tigers up 3-1.

Bottom of the 4th: Clemson 3 UGA 1: Welton leads off for UGA and grounds out to first base. Farmer hits a hard hit ball by the third baseman for the Dogs fourth hit on the day. Cone hits one up the middle but the shortstop makes a good play and forces Farmer at second. Cone is aboard on a fielder’s choice. Hester ends the inning by flying out to center field.

Top of the 4th: Clemson 3 UGA 1: Shaffer leads off for Clemson and strikes out. Miller rips a line drive to center for his second hit of the day. That will end Cornwell’s day who will give way to #13 Chase Hawkins (1-2, 5.15 ERA). This is Hawkins fourth relief appearance. Lamb is his first batter, and Lamb hits a liner that narrowly misses Miller on the base path and gets through to right for a single. Runners at first and second. Kieboom flies out to first base for the second out, and the runners stay put. The first pitch to Epps gets away from Stephens and Miller advances to third. Stephens throws out Lamb attempting to steal second to end the inning with Epps at the plate and Miller on third.

Bottom of the 3rd: Clemson 3 UGA 1: May leads off the Dogs half of the third with a flyout to right. Stephens one hops the right field fence but is thrown out by the right fielder Epps trying to stretch it into a double. Two down. Hyams ends the inning grounding out to the first baseman. 3 up, 3 down again.

Top of the 3rd: Clemson 3 UGA 1: Hinson starts the third with a groundout to Hyams for the first out. Pohl grounds to deep short and is thrown out on a great play by the shortstop Farmer and a great scoop by Hester on the backend. Coach Leggett doesn’t like the call and talks to the umpire to see what he saw. Two outs. Schaus grounds to Hyams for the third out. 3 up, 3 down once again.

Bottom of the 2nd: Clemson 3 UGA 1: Hester begins the inning for the dogs with a groundout to the third baseman. One pitch and one out. Davidson chases the left fielder all the way to the warning track but the ball is caught two steps before the wall–two outs. Ruiz strikes out on four pitches. The Dogs duplicate what Clemson did and go 3 up, 3 down. 3-1 after 2.

Top of the 2nd: Clemson 3 UGA 1: Kieboom leads off for Clemson and hits a line drive right at the right fielder which is put away for the first out. Epps flies out to deep center for the second out. Stolz strikes out to end the inning and Clemson goes 3 up, 3 down.

Bottom of the 1st: Clemson 3 UGA 0: Levi Hyams leads for the Dogs and rips a double down the right field line on the first pitch of the game. Welton singles to right and Hyams is held at third to put runners on the corners for Kyle Farmer. Farmer hits a sac fly to center to plate the first run for the home team. Cone ends the inning by grounding into a 6-4-3 double play. Dogs get one back though; 3-1 after 1.

Top of the 1st: Clemson 0 UGA 0: Third baseman John Hinson leads off and hits the first pitch of the game right back to Cornwell who snags it and easily tosses to first for the first out. One pitch, one out. DH Phil Pohl grounds to the second baseman Hyams, who gets the easy hop and throws to first for the second out. LF Jeff Shaus walks to become the Tigers first base runner of the day. Shaffer walks on four pitches to put runners at first and second. Perno makes an early trip to the mound following Cornwell’s second walk. HOMERUN. Brad Miller hits a 3-run homerun to deep left center to clear the bases. However, Lamb comes up and strikes out to end the inning. Tigers up 3-0.

FIRST PITCH: 7:06 PM

Hello fans, Wright Gazaway here for the live blog. The Bulldogs will take on the #21 ranked Clemson Tigers (22-13). Georgia is looking to rebound after dropping 2 out of 3 to the Gators this past weekend. Georgia lost a close one Friday, 4-2, pulled out a hard-fought 7-2 victory Saturday, and lost 14-7 on Sunday. Clemson comes in hot, winning 8 of their last 9, sweeping Boston College most recently. Weather is a little bit overcast with no wind tonight. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.

STARTING LINEUPS:

Clemson Tigers (22-13)

#4 3B John Hinson  (.290)
#9 DH Phil Pohl (.395)
#3 LF Jeff Shaus (.318)
#8 1B Richie Shaffer (.349)
#13 SS Brad Miller (.404)
#30 CF Will Lamb (.299)
#22 C Spencer Kieboom (.360)
#26 RF Chris Epps (.261)
#2 2B Jason Stolz (.275)

Pitching: #23 RHP Justin Sarratt (2-1, 2.81 ERA)

University of Georgia Bulldogs (19-18)

#3 2B Levi Hyams (.342)
#11 LF Conor Welton (.259)
#17 SS Kyle Farmer (.295)
#12 CF Zach Cone (.299)
#10 1B Jonathan Hester (.289)
#45 DH Chase Davidson (.263)
#36 RF Kevin Ruiz (.267)
#25 3B Colby May (.226)
#5 C Brandon Stephens (.277)

Pitching: #23 RHP Ben Cornwell (1-2, 5.48 ERA)