Georgia Rallies Late to End Tigers' Season |
ATHENS, Ga -- Georgia rallied from a two-run deficit in the ninth inning on a pair of home runs and then blasted another one in the 10th to knock off Clemson 7-6 to capture the NCAA Athens Regional championship Sunday at Foley Field. Georgia's ninth-inning runs came on back-to-back solo shots by Bobby Felmy and Jason Jacobs and then Clint Sammons' solo home run in the top of the 10th provided the winning margin. "All I can say is, wow" said Bulldogs head coach David Perno. "This is the greatest team I have ever been a part of. As an assistant coach, a head coach and a player I have never been on a team that was as unified. I have never been a part of a team that had so much chemistry. These guys deserve the right to fight another day."
Clemson (39-26) forced Georgia (41-21) to a second game on Sunday after rallying back from a seven-run deficit to post a 10-9 win. The Tigers carried that momentum into game two as they jumped out front with four runs in the bottom of the second. Tony Sipp's three-run triple sparked the inning. Georgia responded in the top half of the third when Justin Holmes drove home Jacobs and Jonathan Wyatt on a single to right. Solo shots by Jacobs and Josh Smith in Georgia's half of the fifth tied the game at 4-4 but Clemson jumped right back on top thanks to a two-run homer by Lou Santangelo in the last half of the inning. Paul Lubrano started for the Bulldogs after working four innings in a start against Clemson on Saturday. He was relieved by Johnny Dobbs in the third, who worked into the seventh. Will Startup (7-2), named the regional tournament's most outstanding player, pitched the final 3.2 innings allowing three hits and no runs while the Bulldogs made their rally. In Clemson's final at bat he struck out the side around two singles. Patrick Hogan (3-4) pitched two outs in the ninth and the 10th and took the loss. In game one of the day Georgia led 9-2 through four-and-a-half innings but could not hold its lead as Clemson stormed back for a 10-9 victory. A grand slam by Santangelo in the seventh and a three-run shot by Storrer in the fifth highlighted the Tigers' rally that forced a second game. Reliever Josh Cribb (5-1) earned the win for Clemson and Mitchell Boggs (2-4) took the loss for the Bulldogs. Georgia Tech won their regional and now will meet Georgia. The NCAA will announce the Super Regional sites on Sunday night on ESPN's 11 p.m. SportsCenter.
Georgia Bulldogs 7 (41-20)
Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB Avg
Josh Smith 3b............. 4 1 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 .319
Justin Holmes ss.......... 5 0 2 2 0 1 2 1 0 .327
Marshall Szabo 2b......... 5 0 0 0 0 1 4 5 0 .304
Josh Morris 1b............ 5 0 1 0 0 2 8 1 4 .323
Joey Side rf.............. 4 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 .289
Clint Sammons c........... 4 1 1 1 1 1 7 1 0 .290
Bobby Felmy lf............ 5 1 2 1 0 1 4 1 0 .288
Jason Jacobs dh........... 4 3 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 .284
Jonathan Wyatt cf......... 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 .299
Kyle Keen ph/cf........... 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 3 .297
Paul Lubrano p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Johnny Dobbs p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Will Startup p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0
Totals.................... 39 7 11 7 3 9 30 11 7
Clemson 6 (39-26)
Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB Avg
Sipp, Tony lf/p........... 5 0 1 3 0 2 0 0 1 .280
Storrer, Travis rf........ 5 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 1 .315
McCann, Brad 3b........... 4 1 2 0 1 0 0 5 0 .379
Santangelo, Lou c......... 5 1 1 2 0 2 9 1 0 .300
Harvey, Kris dh/lf........ 3 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 .335
Green, Zane lf............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .063
Hogan, Patrick p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ingram, John ph........... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 .271
D'Alessio, Andy 1b........ 3 0 1 0 1 0 8 1 1 .333
Gaddis, C.J. pr........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Colvin, Tyler 1b.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .289
Triplett, Russell ss...... 4 1 2 1 0 0 4 2 0 .304
Demmink, Herman 2b........ 4 1 1 0 0 1 4 6 0 .270
Evans, Garrick cf......... 3 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 .308
Faris, Stephen p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Rohrbaugh, Robert p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Totals.................... 37 6 10 6 4 7 30 16 5
Score by innings: R H E
-----------------------------------------------
Georgia Bulldogs 002 020 002 1 - 7 11 0
Clemson 040 020 000 0 - 6 10 4
-----------------------------------------------
E - McCANN 2(18); TRIPLETT(19); DEMMINK(14).
DP - Bulldogs 1; Tigers 3. LOB - Bulldogs 7; Tigers 5.
3B - SIPP(4).
HR - Smith, J.(3); Sammons(4); Felmy(8); Jacobs 2(5);
SANTANGELO(18).
SB - McCANN(6). CS - Side(4); Wyatt(3); GADDIS(1).
SH - Smith, J.(6).
Georgia Bulldogs IP H R ER BB SO AB BF ERA NP
Paul Lubrano........ 2.0 4 4 4 3 0 9 12 4.22
Johnny Dobbs........ 4.1 3 2 2 0 4 16 16 3.60
Will Startup........ 3.2 3 0 0 1 3 12 13 2.35
Clemson IP H R ER BB SO AB BF ERA NP
Faris, Stephen...... 4.0 4 3 3 1 1 14 17 6.86
Rohrbaugh, Robert... 1.0 2 1 1 2 1 5 7 3.99
Sipp, Tony.......... 3.1 2 2 2 0 6 13 13 4.69
Hogan, Patrick...... 1.2 3 1 1 0 1 7 7 4.23
Win - Startup 7-2. Loss - P. HOGAN 3-4. Save - None.
WP - Dobbs(3); FARIS(4).
HBP - by FARIS (Jacobs).
Umpires - Home:Jim Garman 1st:Phil Benson
2nd:Ray Belfiore 3rd:John Kleis
Start: 5:50 pm Time: 3:01 Attendance: 1651
Lubrano faced 1 batter in the 3rd.
FARIS faced 1 batter in the 5th.
ROHRBAUGH faced 3 batters in the 6th.
Game 1 Athens, GA - Lou Santangelo's grand slam capped a comeback from a seven-run deficit as Clemson beat Georgia 10-9 Sunday, forcing a decisive elimination game in the NCAA Regionals. Josh Smith's 3-run homer in the fifth gave the Bulldogs (40-21) a 9-2 lead, but the Tigers (39-25) played long ball with the Georgia bullpen. Meanwhile Clemson reliever Josh Cribb, who gave up five runs in that fifth inning, pitched shutout ball over the last four innings to pick up the win and improve to 5-1. Homers by Smith and Marshall Szabo contributed to Georgia's early 9-2 lead, but Clemson's long-ball barrage ate up the difference in short order. In the fifth, Clemson responded with a 3-run homer off the scoreboard by Travis Storrer. Then Russell Triplett added a solo shot off the leftfield foul pole in the sixth. And Santangelo delivered the crushing blow, a grand slam to center in the seventh that ended loser Mitchell Boggs' day and put the Tigers in front. Georgia freshman Josh McLaughlin came in to strike out the side, but not before loading the bases on a single, walk and hit-batsman. That was typical of the day. Georgia pitchers walked eight batters and hit one. Each team got into the other's bullpen quickly. Clemson's Kris Harvey, the winning pitcher in Clemson's 6-2 win here March 30, surrendered Szabo's three-run home run off the scoreboard in the third. He retired the next three to get to the fourth, but after he gave up a leadoff single and a 10-pitch walk, he was replaced by Cribb. He retired the first two batters he faced before Justin Holmes singled in Bobby Felmy. Cribb got out of the inning thanks to a diving catch by left fielder Tony Sipp of a Szabo liner. Meanwhile, Georgia starter Sean Ruthvin used 62 pitches to get two outs deep into the third when first-base umpire Tom Svehla angered both sides. Georgia fans were angry when he called Storrer's ground-ball double down the line fair, scoring Sipp. Clemson fans were mad when Brad McCann was tagged out at first by Georgia's Josh Morris after the throw from shortstop Holmes sailed wide of the bag. Storrer scored on the play. Television replays indicated that both calls were correct. Cribb was roughed up in Georgia's 5-run fifth. Most of the damage came after two were out. After Clint Sammons' RBI single, Cribb got within an out of ending the inning without further damage. But Jason Jacobs singled in Sammons. Smith followed Kyle Keen's single with a 3-run homer into the kudzu beyond rightfield, giving Georgia its short-lived 9-2 lead.
Georgia 9 (40-21)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Smith, Josh 3b........... 4 2 2 3 1 1 0 2 0
Holmes, Justin ss........ 5 1 2 1 0 0 1 1 0
Szabo, Marshall 2b....... 5 1 2 3 0 0 0 1 3
Morris, Josh 1b.......... 4 1 1 0 1 1 7 2 1
Side, Joey rf............ 5 0 0 0 0 4 1 0 0
Sammons, Clint c......... 5 1 2 1 0 1 11 2 0
Wyatt, Jonathan pr...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Felmy, Bobby lf.......... 5 1 2 0 0 0 2 0 1
Jacobs, Jason dh......... 3 1 1 1 1 2 0 0 0
Keen, Kyle cf............ 4 1 1 0 0 2 1 0 2
Ruthven, Sean p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Lanier, Bo p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Boggs, Mitchell p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
McLaughlin, Josh p...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 40 9 13 9 3 11 24 9 7
Clemson 10 (39-25)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Sipp, Tony lf............ 3 3 1 0 2 2 4 0 3
Storrer, Travis rf....... 4 3 2 4 1 1 1 0 0
McCann, Brad 3b.......... 4 1 1 1 1 1 0 2 0
Santangelo, Lou c........ 3 1 1 4 2 2 9 1 1
Harvey, Kris p/dh........ 4 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 2
D'Alessio, Andy 1b....... 4 0 2 0 0 1 9 0 0
Triplett, Russell ss..... 3 1 1 1 0 1 1 4 0
Demmink, Herman 2b....... 3 0 0 0 1 1 2 1 1
Evans, Garrick cf........ 3 1 0 0 0 3 1 0 0
Cribb, Josh p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Totals................... 31 10 8 10 8 13 27 10 7
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Georgia............. 003 150 000 - 9 13 1
Clemson............. 002 031 40X - 10 8 1
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E - SAMMONS(2); DEMMINK(13). DP - Clemson 1.
LOB - Georgia 7; Clemson 7. 2B - J. SMITH(15);
STORRER(13); D'ALESSIO(10). HR - J. SMITH(2); SZABO(6);
STORRER(7); SANTANGELO(17); TRIPLETT(4). HBP - TRIPLETT.
SB - FELMY(8). CS - HARVEY(4). Reached on CI - EVANS.
Georgia IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Ruthven, Sean....... 2.2 2 2 2 4 6 9 13
Lanier, Bo.......... 2.1 1 3 2 1 2 8 10
Boggs, Mitchell..... 1.0 4 5 5 1 1 7 8
McLaughlin, Josh.... 2.0 1 0 0 2 4 7 10
Clemson IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Harvey, Kris........ 3.0 7 4 4 1 6 16 17
Cribb, Josh......... 6.0 6 5 5 2 5 24 26
Win - CRIBB (5-1). Loss - BOGGS (2-4). Save - None.
WP - LANIER(7); McLAUGHLIN(3); HARVEY(1).
HBP - by McLAUGHLIN (TRIPLETT). PB -
SAMMONS(7). CI - SAMMONS.
Umpires - HP: John Kleis 1B: Tom Svehla
2B: Chris Daniels 3B: Ray Belfiore
Start: 2:06 Time: 2:58 Attendance: 3225
HARVEY faced 2 batters in the 4th.
BOGGS faced 4 batters in the 7th.
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