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Published Mar 25, 2018
Dawgs complete sweep
Anthony Dasher  •  UGASports
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Georgia accomplished a feat at Foley Field Sunday that it hasn't done since 2012 – sweep a Southeastern Conference series at home.

Thanks to a 3-0 win over South Carolina, that's now the case, a victory that pushed the Bulldogs' record to 19-6, 5-1 in conference play, the program's best start in conference play since 2002.

A combined four-hitter got the job done.

Three Bulldog pitchers limited the Gamecocks (13-11, 1-5) to just four singles, led by freshman starter Ryan Webb (1-1) who tossed six scoreless innings, allowing just two hits with three walks and seven strikeouts. The six innings and seven strikeouts both equaled career highs for the Roswell native.

"It was a tough day on the hitters and we knew that coming in, it was going to be cold and wet, and a tough hitting background," head coach Scott Stricklin said. "Ryan gave us exactly what we needed. I told him when I took him out that we hoped to get six strong innings from him, to get six zeroes out of him was outstanding."

Webb - who earned his first collegiate win - is a pitcher used to having success.

"My stuff wasn't the greatest today and I was feeling a little under the weather, but I did what I could with what I had," Webb said. "I was just able to keep them off balance."

At Pope High, Webb left his alma mater as the school’s record holder for wins (23), innings pitched (165.2) and strikeouts (227) while posting a career ERA of 2.07 (sixth).

Sunday’s effort against the Gamecocks wasn’t bad, either.

Although South Carolina managed base runners in five of his six innings pitched, Webb worked around each one before giving way to Kevin Smith, who tossed a scoreless seventh.

"Wins came a lot (in high school), but here it's more of a premium," Webb said. "But it was good to get this first one under my belt so the next time it won't be as much pressure."

Aaron Schunk shut South Carolina out in innings eight and nine to pick up his second save.

"When we made the decision to put Ryan Webb into the rotation, the flipside of that was Kevin Smith going into the backside of the bullpen, and he factored into all three games this weekend," Stricklin said. "I give him a lot of credit because he could have said he didn't feel like it, because he threw on Friday and threw on Saturday. We talked about it last night that he might be down today but he walked into the park today and said he was ready to go."

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Runs were hard to come by on what was a cold, damp afternoon at Foley Field.

After scoring 12 runs on Saturday, the Bulldogs only managed three on two hits on Sunday, the first coming in the fourth on a double by Michael Curry to drive in Keegan McGovern for the game’s first run.

Two batters later, Adam Sasser brought home Curry with the second run before Mason Meadows gave the Bulldogs some insurance with a sacrifice fly in the eighth.

NOTES: Curry’s double extended his hitting streak to 10 games. … Sasser’s seventh-inning double extended his hitting streak to nine. … The Bulldogs host Charleston Southern Tuesday night at 6 before returning to conference play with a three-game series at Foley Field starting Thursday against Texas A&M. ... Sunday's victory was the sixth straight for the Bulldogs.

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