May 7, 2006
Athens, Ga. – Georgia freshman LHP Justin Moreau hurled a career-high eight innings and the Bulldogs scored all seven runs in the fourth and fifth innings on its way to a 7-4 win over 10th ranked South Carolina to sweep a three-game SEC series. Georgia is now 31-16 and 13-11 in the SEC with the Gamecocks record dropping to 32-16 as well as 13-11 in the conference.
After struggling in the first couple of innings, Moreau settled down and limited the Gamecocks to just one hit from the third to ninth inning on his way to the victory. Moreau is now 6-1 on the year. He finished the game allowing three runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and no walks.
Carolina starter Will Atwood was effective in the first three innings but the Georgia bats came alive in the fourth inning as the Bulldogs built a 3-0 lead. Gordon Beckham opened the frame with a base hit and was advanced to third base on a double by Josh Morris. The double by Morris was followed up by a triple from Bobby Felmy, who after following off a pair of 2-2 pitches, hit the next one into the gap in right center. Felmy would score on Jason Jacobs’ sacrifice fly to left field.
The Bulldogs extended the lead to 7-0 in the fifth inning as Felmy drove in his third run of the game with a sacrifice fly along with two-out RBI base hits from Ryan Peisel and Kyle Keen. Atwood finished the game at 4.1 innings of work allowing six runs on eight hits. He suffered the loss and is now 3-1 on the year.
Carolina did make late push against the Bulldogs scoring four times in the ninth inning with three of the four runs charged to Moreau. Andrew Crisp doubled and scored on a RBI base hit by Chris Brown. Michael Campbell would then double, that put two runners on for Justin Smoak, who hit a three-run homer to left field to cut the deficit to three runs. Smoak’s homer was his second consecutive of the weekend and 12th of the season, setting a school record for homers by a freshman. Drew Meyer held the previous record with 11 in the 2000 season. Smoak also had a three-run homer in the ninth inning of Saturday’s loss.
The Bulldogs would then bring on closer Joshua Fields, who earned a save retiring all three batters he face, his 10th of the season.
Crisp was 2-for-3 and extended his hitting streak to 17 games with a base hit to open the game. Brown also went 2-for-3 on the afternoon. Beckham went 3-for-4 to lead Georgia at the plate with Peisel and Keen adding two hits.
Carolina returns to action on Tuesday evening (May 9) with a non-conference tilt at The Citadel. First pitch at Joe Riley Park is set for 7 pm.
