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Beckham hits $5,000 home run

ATHENS-----Sophomore shortstop Gordon Beckham hit a pair of home runs including a grand slam to pace a 20-hit attack as Georgia posted a 17-1 rout of Furman Wednesday at Foley Field.
Beckham (3-for-6) drove in a career-high seven RBI while junior Jake Crane and freshman Rich Poythress added three RBI apiece to lead the offensive outburst. Seven Bulldog pitchers combined to limit the Paladins to four hits. Georgia (10-14) snapped a three-game losing streak while Furman dropped to 8-16. Georgia freshman right-hander Dean Weaver tossed three scoreless innings with three strikeouts for the win while Paladin starter J.P. Goldsberry was chased in the second. He allowed seven runs on eight hits to get the loss and fall to 0-1.
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Georgia scored three runs in the first including a two-run double by Poythress and Beckham's three-run shot in the second highlighted a four-run outburst for a 7-0 advantage. Furman pushed across its lone run in the fourth off freshman Alex McRee. He issued back-to-back walks and hit a batter to load the bases before getting Will Stembridge to bounce in to a double play. Marcus Rose scored on the play.
Beckham's grand slam came in the fifth inning as part of a seven-run outburst, and the blast was worth $5,000 to Bulldog fan Gary Washington of Crawford, Ga. He was the lucky scorecard holder during the "Grand Slam Inning." Georgia sent 11 men to the plate that inning and took a commanding 14-1 lead. Crane's three-run home run in the seventh off Nick Hollstegge provided the final margin. For Beckham, it marked the second time this season he has had a multi-home run game. He leads the team with six home runs and 27 RBI.
Following Weaver and McRee, Iain Sebastian, Ryan Woolley, Adam McDaniel, Trevor Holder and Joshua Fields all pitched one inning. McDaniel, Holder and Fields struck out two apiece.
"Our new lineup looked pretty good tonight, and hopefully, that will carry over to this weekend's series with Florida," said Georgia coach David Perno. "Our veterans swung the bats well and that got our freshmen going too. It was good to see us break out and score some runs and our pitching did a nice job."
Georgia's starting lineup Wednesday featured six freshmen counting Weaver on the mound. The Bulldogs return to Southeastern Conference action Friday when they play host to Florida (15-13, 4-2 SEC). First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
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