CLEMSON, S.C. – The 17th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs fell to Clemson 4-3 in front of 4,078 spectators at Doug Kingsmore Stadium Tuesday.
“We pitched well enough to win, but in these midweek games, you have to be able to score more than three runs,” said head coach Scott Stricklin. “We only got the leadoff guy on one time tonight. Michael Polk got out of a bases loaded nobody out jam, and Chandler Marsh, Will Pearson and Jack Gowen all looked good too. Clemson was better than us tonight.”
Georgia's (22-7) three runs came on six hits, led by a 2-for-4, two-RBI, one home run performance by Parks Harber and a 2-for-4, night by Connor Tate, while two Bulldogs notched one hit apiece.
On the mound, Hank Bearden went one inning giving up two runs on two hits with two strikeouts and was tabbed with the loss. In relief, Polk went two innings giving up one run on one hit, Marsh went two scoreless innings fanning two Tigers. Luke Wagner went one inning giving up one run on two hits with a strikeout, Pearson gave up on hit in one scoreless inning, while Gowen went one scoreless inning fanning two Tigers.
Clemson (19-9) right-handed pitcher, Billy Barlow (1-2) went five innings giving up one run on three hits with five strikeouts to earn the win. Geoffrey Gilbert went three inning giving up two run on three hits with a pair of strikeouts. Ryan Ammons earned the save for the Tigers.
The Bulldogs struck first for the 17th-time this season. Cole Wagner hit a laser beam to right on the seventh pitch of his at-bat to give Georgia the early 1-0 lead. However, Clemson responded in the bottom of the inning with back-to-back blasts to take a 2-1 lead.
In the third inning the Tigers scored one run. After Ben Anderson robbed the leadoff batter of a home run to deep center-field, Clemson plated a run on a sacrifice fly to right-field to extend its lead to two.
The Tigers added to their lead in the sixth with a solo shot to right-field to gain a 4-1 advantage. The Bulldogs answered in the seventh with a two-run bomb to left-field by Harber to cut the Clemson lead to one.
Georgia will return to action with a three-game road series on Friday, April 8 through Sunday, April 10 against the South Carolina Gamecocks. First pitch is slated for 7 p.m. on Friday (SECN+).
Quick Hits
• Tuesday marks the 234th meeting between the Bulldogs and Tigers – Georgia owns a 124-107-2 advantage over Clemson in the series.
• With his home run in the first inning, Cole Wagner now has four long balls on the season (401 feet, 104 mph exit velocity).
• With a walk in the third inning, Ben Anderson extended his streak of safely reaching base to 27 games.
• With a single to left-field in the fourth inning, Connor Tate extended his hitting streak to 15-games and his streak of safely reaching base to 10-games. Tonight marked Tate’s 14th multi-hit game of the season.
• With his home run in the seventh inning, Parks Harber now has 5 on the season. He now has 25 RBI on 23 hits.
