ATHENS, GA. — Clemson traveled to Georgia on Sunday afternoon for two nine-inning scrimmages at Foley Field, with the Bulldogs taking both games.

Georgia took the opening game 8-1, with the Dawgs finishing with more runs scored than hits. The Bulldogs also took game two 8-3.

“I mean, obviously, they kicked our ass all day,” head coach Erik Bakich told The Clemson Insider after the doubleheader. “I thought they did a few things a whole lot better than we did. Starting on the mound, they threw a whole lot more strikes than we did. We had too many free passes. Offensively, they have a very good approach to do damage. They hit a lot of home runs today.

“I thought we had too many strikeouts, but more concerning, we did not get our best swings off with more than two strikes. So, we need to have a better approach of trying to impact the baseball and get better swings with less than two (strikes).

“I thought they out-competed us for the most part. They have a very good team. They reloaded very well. So, this was a great opportunity to get exposed a little bit and give us some things to work on.”

Bakich basically split his team into two squads similar to what he was planning to do last week in the two exhibitions against Coastal, before one was rained out. Bakich said he will not be doing that in two weeks when the Tigers have a home-and-home scrimmage against Georgia Tech on Halloween weekend.

Here are some news and notes from the 18-inning scrimmage.

Game 1

Clemson used nine pitchers in the first game, and they limited UGA to six hits. However, the staff also issued nine walks and hit four batters. That is 13 free passes. The offense mustered just five base hits.

Jarren Purify, Troy Sudbrook and Isaac Cadena did not play in the first game. All four are expected to be regular parts of the lineup.

Clemson loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the second and was able to push a run across on a wild pitch. However, a Dylan Harrison strikeout would strand the other two runners. Jackson Taylor also struck out earlier in the frame with two runners aboard.

In the third, Tyler Lichtenberger and Luke Gaffney had back-to-back one-out singles, but Jamie Daly and Ethan Offing both struck out, to end the frame and strand the runners.

Danny Nelson started on the mound for Clemson. The right-hander issued a two-out walk in the first, then committed a throwing error, but came back and struck out the next hitter to get out of the jam. Nelson would sit the Dawgs down in order in the second. He finished with two strikeouts. He allowed one hit and walked one.

Dane Moehler took over in the third. With runners at first and second and two outs, Offing made a diving grab at second and got the final out at first, stranding both runners.

Chance Fitzgerald threw the fourth inning, retiring all three hitters, including one strikeout.

Freshman Carson Admonik came on to pitch to start the bottom of the sixth. After allowing a leadoff home run, he then allowed a double and two more hits, with Georgia taking a 3-1 lead. He also walked a batter, while recording only two outs. His final line was three runs on four hits with one walk on 0.2 innings pitched. Last week against Coastal Carolina in Myrtle Beach, the freshman struck out the side in his only inning of work.

Brendan Bennett relieved Admonik with two on and two outs in the fifth. The lefty retired the first hitter to strand both runners. He came back out for the sixth and quickly got the first two outs. He then walked a batter and followed that up by hitting one. The next hitter took him deep out to left, making it 6-1. That has been the Bennett I have seen this fall. One that, at times, has issued too many walks.

Freshman Chase Kiker pitched an easy 1-2-3 seventh inning, with his fastball hitting the mid-90s. He struck out two.

Lefy Nick Frusco pitched the eighth. He started by walking the first two hitters, then retired the next three, including striking out the final one. Frusco’s fastball is now in the 94-95 mph range. That is a noticeable jump from last season.

Lefty Jake Morris came on in the bottom of the ninth. He walked two, hit two, while recording just one out. He was charged with

Transfer Kailan Hackman came on with the bases loaded and just one out in the ninth in relief of Morris. After striking out the first hitter, he walked a guy, forcing in another run. He then got a ground ball to end the first nine innings.

Shortstop Tyler Lichtenberger singled in the first and third, finishing 2-for-4.

Gaffney singled in the fourth. He was 1-for-4, playing both first base and catcher.

Briggs Sullivan, who played left field, singled in the fifth. He was 1-for-3.

Dylan Harrison, who served as one of the DHs, doubled in the eighth and went 1-for-3.

Offing had two really nice defensive stabs at second base. Outside of the throwing error by Nelson in the first, the Tigers played really clean defense in the opener. Even that one error did not hurt them.

Tryston McCladdie played some in right field, but did not hit, as he’s been a little banged up early on in fall ball.

Game 2

The Tigers managed to pound out nine hits, but could never really string any together. Georgia finished with nine, but three of those were long balls.

The pitchers only issued five free passes in the second game.

Clemson went into the ninth trailing 6-1. Luke Gaffney and Isaac Incinelli both drove in runs to cut the lead to 6-3, but the Tigers failed to get any closer despite having two more runners on base. Freshman Jack Schuman grounded out for the second out, while Jamie Daly also grounded out to end the frame. Georgia got both of those runs back in the bottom of the inning.

Transfer Jackson Miller got the start and went two innings. After a 1-2-3 first, he ran into trouble in the second. After walking two batters, runners were on the corners with one out. Georgia’s Hayden Bair then launched a massive three-run bomb out to right, putting the Dawgs on top 3-0.

Dion Brown came on to pitch the bottom of the third, and the first two hitters he faced took him deep. He struck out the next two before getting a weak ground ball to end the frame.

Southpaw Parker Davis threw the bottom of the fourth. The freshman struck out the first hitter he saw, got a fly ball on the infield for out number two, then allowed a single into left. Davis came back and struck out the next hitter. Despite the single, Davis looked really good. The 175-pounder was hitting 95mph on the gun.

Landon Fowler pitched the bottom of the fifth. After walking the leadoff hitter, a single through the left side put runners at first and second. The right-hander then struck out the next three batters. And he did it in a fairly dominant fashion. Fowler showed no signs of panic after the first two reached. And he easily could have after the second runner reached on a ball that was lost in the sun.

Freshman Kayden McGlauflin pitched an impressive 1-2-3 sixth, striking out the final batter of the frame. He was hitting 94 on the gun.

Eston Simpson came on to pitch the seventh, allowing a one-out single. The sophomore was hitting 95mph with his fastball.

Lefty Ethan Trivison pitched the bottom of the eighth. The freshman was greeted by Hunter Carns, who smashed a solo shot way out into the trees beyond the left field fence. Trivison got the next three in order.

Landon White threw the bottom of the ninth. After issuing a leadoff walk, he got a pop-up for out number one. The right-hander then walked another batter, putting runners on first and second. A single into center then made it 7-3. White then struck out the next batter swinging. He would allow one more RBI single before it ended.

Incinelli singled in the second. He started at third. Incinelli singled again to start the fifth, and a fielding error allowed him to reach third. He then reached on an error in the ninth, which plated a run.

Freshman Chase Kiker had a bloop single in the third. He was serving as a DH. Kiker drove in a run with an infield single in the fifth.

Transfer Isaac Cadena singled in the fourth and again in the sixth. He is expected to be the starting catcher. Cadena added another single in the ninth and came around to score. He went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.

Jackson Moore doubled with two outs in the fifth and finished 1-for-3.

Lichtenberger notched his first hit of the second game with one out in the ninth. A single back up the middle. He went 1-for-4 with a run scored.

Gaffney had an RBI single in the ninth that cut the lead to 6-2. He was 1-for-4 with a run scored.

Clemson once again played well defensively, making no errors. Jackson Moore made an outstanding sliding catch in left field.

Lichtenberger, Gaffney and center fielder Jamie Daly were the only players to start both games in the field.

– Photo of Danny Nelson courtesy of Clemson Athletics