Baseball: Diamond Dogs shutout Clemson

A historic night for Georgia on the road

Georgia pitcher Darryn Pasqua (39) during a game against Richmond at Foley Field in Athens, Ga., on Sun., Feb. 16, 2020. (Photo by Chamberlain Smith)

Georgia used a total of eight pitchers to shutout Clemson on Tuesday night at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

For the first time since 1936, the Bulldogs shutout the Tigers in Clemson, South Carolina. During the historic performance, Georgia (17-7, 2-4) only allowed five hits in the combined pitching effort.

The Bulldogs scored their first run in the top of the second inning. Riley King drew a leadoff walk and then took second base on a wild pitch. He then advanced to third on another passed ball before scoring on a sacrifice fly from Parks Harber. In the top of the fourth inning, Harber collected another RBI on a fielder’s choice that scored fellow freshman Corey Collins.

A real positive for Georgia is that Clemson went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position. The Bulldogs’ pitching staff was able to keep the Tigers on their toes all night. It was freshman redshirt freshman Charlie Goldstein who got the victory, which was his first collegiate win. Although, it’s the heroics of redshirt sophomore Darryn Pasqua that cannot be overlooked.

In the bottom half of the eighth, with one out, Pasqua took the mound for Georgia. The Christian Heritage product put away the first batter he faced with a strikeout. Then, he ended the inning by getting Clemson’s Alex Urban to groundout. Thus, ending the Tigers’ threat.

Georgia’s acting head coach Scott Daeley was proud of how the veteran arm performed.

“Darryn (Pasqua) came into a tough situation and threw with a lot of confidence,” Daeley said in a post-game interview. “He had a calm demeanor and attacked their hitters.”

Daeley added that he thought the offense did some leave plays on the field, though.

“Offensively, I thought we swung the batters better even though we had just six hits,” Daeley said. “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.”

In the end, Pasqua ended the night by retiring all five Clemson batters he faced, which included three strikeouts.

In this rivalry, this isn’t the only time Pasquad has came up clutch for Georgia. Back in 2019, both teams played a 20-inning game in Athens that ended with Georgia coming out on top, 3-2. Pasqua came into that game in the 16th inning and pitched lights out to secure the win, which was his first career victory at the collegiate level.

“I’m really proud of the guys, especially the pitchers, to go out there and throw a shutout,” Daeley said in an interview on 960-AM. “We gave them some chances, but DP (Pasqua) and some other guys, Michael Polk, came in and threw huge pitches when it really mattered.”

Next up: Georgia returns to SEC play Friday when it begins a three-game series with No. 12 South Carolina (16-6, 4-2 SEC). The first pitch is slated for 6:02 p.m. on SEC Network+ and can be heard on the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network.