Despite grabbing the two-run lead in the second inning, Clemson succumbed to the 5-4 loss at the hands of the Georgia Bulldogs on Military Appreciation Day Tuesday evening at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in Clemson, S.C.

It all came down to the ninth inning where the Tigers had the winning run at the plate in the form of catcher Cooper Ingle but came up short after Cam Cannarella was thrown out at home on Ingle’s double down the right field line that quickly extinguished Clemson’s rally and sealed the one-run loss.

“Made a nice run there at the end with Cam getting on base, Cooper hitting the double,” head coach Erik Bakich said following the loss. “It was absolutely one hundred percent the right thing to do to go for it there and try to score him from first with two outs, you gotta take your shot there to tie it.

“The ball carried right to the right fielder, and they made a nice relay throw to the plate, so a good college baseball game and we’re on the wrong end of it. There were some bright spots in this game, but we just didn’t put a complete game together all the way through and that’s why we’re one run short.”

Georgia’s Collin Caldwell earned the win for the Bulldogs while righthander Leighton Finley tallied the save. Clemson lefthander B.J. Bailey suffered the loss, his second of the season.

Georgia was the first to strike in Tuesday evening’s contest. With two outs and a runner on second, Parks Harber put the Bulldogs ahead with a deep ball to left field, scoring Connor Tate and giving Georgia the early 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Into the bottom half of the inning, Clemson wasted no time in getting on the board thanks to two clutch RBI doubles hit by Ingle and sophomore Billy Amick to make it a 2-2 tie ball game through one.

The Tigers struck yet again in the second. With the bases loaded and two outs, outfielder Will Taylor singled through the right field side to score both Cannarella and Nathan Hall to give Clemson its first lead of the day by a score of 4-2 after two.

Into the third, Georgia’s Charlie Condon launched a solo bomb over the center field wall to put the Bulldog’s within one. Just three batters later, Corey Collins hit a sac-fly RBI out to center which scored Tate from third to tie things up 4-4.

Georgia took back the lead once again in the fourth thanks to Stinson’s RBI double down the third base line that scored shortstop Sebastian Murillo for the 5-4 lead and eventual final score.

The Tigers tried to claw their way back in the ninth with the winning run at the plate with two outs, but ultimately came up short in the end.

With the loss, Clemson drops to 22-16 while Georgia improves to 20-17. Catcher Cooper Ingle led the Tigers offensively on the day going 2-for-4 at the plate with one run off two hits, two doubles and one RBI.

Next up, Clemson travels to Raleigh, N.C. to face the NC State Wolfpack with the first of three games set to be played on Friday, April 21. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. on ACCNX.

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