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Diamond Dogs trounce Presbyterian
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ATHENS — Bryce Massanari went 2-for-3 including a grand slam in the third inning as Georgia topped Presbyterian, 11-4, Wednesday at Foley Field.

The 12th-ranked Bulldogs improved to 5-0 for the third time in the David Perno era; the 2004 and 2006 teams also won their first five games.

"I thought it was a good game, but we made some really bad decisions in the middle innings," Perno said.

"The guys in the pen did a really good job. Some guys were having an off night, but we had some players lower in the lineup who were picking them up."

Michael Demperio led off the third inning with a solo home run to give Georgia the early lead, then walks to Johnathan Taylor, Peter Verdin and Colby May loaded the bases for Massanari, who blasted a grand slam to left field to give the Bulldogs a five-run lead. It was the first grand slam since Demperio hit one against Jacksonville State last season.

After the Blue Hose (0-5) added a pair of runs in the fourth, Joey Lewis had a two-out RBI double in the sixth to make it 6-2. Presbyterian scored two unearned runs in the sixth to get within 6-4, but Georgia pushed the lead back to three with a run in the bottom half of the inning.

Colby May’s sacrifice fly brought home another run to stretch the lead to 8-4, and Massanari narrowly missed another grand slam later in the inning when his fly ball to right field was caught just shy of the wall.

The Bulldogs broke the game open in the eighth when Chase Davidson cleared the bases with a three-run double.

Massanari and Lewis finished with two hits apiece to lead Georgia.

Senior Jason Leaver (1-0) made his first start in 11 months and threw five innings, giving up three hits and two runs to pick up the win. Jeff Walters, Justin Earls and Michael Palazzone pitched the final four innings for Georgia.

Garrett Moore (0-1) took the loss for the Blue Hose, surrendering four runs on just one hit in 2.1 innings.

Georgia heads to Arizona for a three-game series with the Wildcats beginning Friday at 9 p.m. Eastern. Senior Trevor Holder will take the mound for the Bulldogs.

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