Georgia Blows by Middle Tennessee 16-2

Athens, Ga. ------Powered by a nine-run outburst in the second inning, Georgia cruised to a 16-2 win Friday in the opening game of the NCAA Athens Regional in front of a crowd of 2,150.

The Bulldogs (39-20) got home runs from Marshall Szabo (1-5, 3 RBI), Kyle Keen (2-for-3, 4 RBI) and Bobby Felmy (1-for-4, 3 RBI) to build a big advantage. Georgia also had key hits from Clint Sammons (2-for-3, 1 RBI), Josh Morris (2-for-2, 1 RBI) and Josh Smith (1-for-5, 2 RBI) as Georgia collected 14 hits on the day. Georgia starter Sean Ruthven pitched three perfect innings with two strikeouts as the Bulldogs turned it over to the bullpen at that point. Junior right-hander Johnny Dobbs got the win with three scoreless innings of relief. Rip Warren, Brooks Brown and Matt Woods combined to go the rest of the way. MTSU spoiled the shutout in the seventh as Nate Jaggers singled and later scored on a base hit by Jeff Beachum.

The 16 runs marked the most runs scored by the Bulldogs in a game this year since March 7th when the Bulldogs defeated Liberty by a score of 18-3.

In the ninth, MTSU's Brett Carroll smacked a solo home run to right field off Woods for the final margin. MTSU starter Chris Mobley lasted just 1.1 innings and fell to 7-5. He allowed seven runs on four hits with three walks and a strikeout. MTSU dropped to 40-21 on the year.

The 16 runs by the Bulldogs tied the second most in their NCAA Tournament history. Georgia beat Stanford 16-2 in the 1990 College World Series en route to the national championship. Georgia beat Rutgers 20-9 in the 1990 Northeast Regional in Waterbury. Bulldog head coach David Perno was a member of the 1990 team, and today marked his 100th career coaching victory.

The Bulldogs advance to the winners bracket game at 3 p.m. to face either Birmingham Southern or Clemson Saturday. The Blue Raiders face the loser of the BSC-Clemson game in an elimination game Saturday at 11 a.m.