Eight pitchers combined to lead No. 23 Georgia to a 2-0 win over Clemson Tuesday in front of a crowd of 1,280 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
It marked the Bulldogs first shutout of the Tigers here since 1936 as they held the home team to five hits. Clemson went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position. Junior Darryn Pasqua notched his first career save, taking care of the final 1.2 innings with three strikeouts. Clemson loaded the bases with one out in the eighth and Pasqua extinguished the threat. The last time these teams met, Pasqua came through as well. It was a 20-inning marathon in 2019 in Athens when he registered five shutout innings and seven strikeouts for his first career win. The Bulldogs won that one 3-2.
Georgia (17-7) took a 1-0 lead in the second. Riley King drew a leadoff walk, took second on a wild pitch, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly by Parks Harber. In the fourth, Harber made it 2-0, collecting an RBI on a fielder’s choice as Collins scored following a leadoff walk.
Freshman left-hander Charlie Goldstein started and pitched a scoreless inning as part of a staff night to collect his first career victory. Freshman Will Pearson followed and provided two scoreless frames with two strikeouts. Jack Gowen was next and allowed a hit and a walk and struck out two in the fourth. Collin Caldwell started the fifth and went 1.1 innings. Nolan Crisp tossed an inning and Michael Polk pitched an inning. Ben Harris was the seventh pitcher of the night before giving way to Pasqua. Tuesday’s win was Georgia’s fourth shutout of the year.
The Tigers (12-10) got 3.1 innings from freshman right-hander Carter Raffield (0-2) who allowed a pair of runs on two hits and three walks in a loss before the Tigers went to their bullpen.
Georgia returns to Southeastern Conference play Friday when it begins a three-game series with eighth-ranked South Carolina (16-6, 4-2 SEC). First pitch is slated for 6:02 p.m. on SEC Network+ and can be heard on the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network.
Georgia’s Acting Head Coach Scott Daeley
On the game
“Darryn (Pasqua) came into a tough situation and threw with a lot of confidence. He had a calm demeanor and attacked their hitters. Offensively, I thought we swung the batters better even though we had just six hits. We had a chance to extend the lead a few times and didn’t. It was a mixed bag. We have to execute better when we have chances to score.”