Saturday, February 17, 2001

ATHENS, Ga. -- A Foley Field Opening Day record crowd of 3,042 saw Georgia defeat East Tennessee State 9-1 Saturday.

Junior right-hander Jeremy Brown (1-0) provided the Bulldogs with six strong innings and catcher Tony Burchett's grand slam helped lead Georgia to its first victory. The Bucs dropped to 2-4.

Georgia got on the board with a run-scoring single by junior Darryl Blaze ((2-4, 2 RBI). The Bulldogs added two more in the third on a two-run single by redshirt freshman David Coffey (3-3, 2 RBI). With the Bulldogs up 5-1 in the eighth, the Bucs opted to intentionally walk pinch-hitter Lee Mitchell to load the bases for Burchett, who was 0-for-3 on the day with seven runners left on base. However, Burchett's afternoon at the plate changed when he drilled Matt Nunely's 2-2 pitch over the centerfield fence for a grand slam and a 9-1 edge.

Brown scattered five hits and one run, walked one and struck out five for his first victory as a Bulldog after transferring from the University of Tennessee. Juniors Scott Murphy and Jeffery Carswell combined to blank the Bucs the rest of the way.

ETSU starter Reid Casey (1-1) got the loss, allowing four runs on nine hits in six innings. Casey walked five and struck out five. The same two teams meet again Sunday at 1:30 pm.