Georgia (18-11, 8-4 SEC) dropped a 6-5 heartbreaker to No. 1 Clemson (28-3) Wednesday night.

The Bulldogs carried a 4-1 lead going into eighth inning before the wheels began to come off.

Bill Sharpton pitched much better than the line shows (5.2 IP, 5 R, 8 K). Despite making no errors, Georgia’s defense didn’t help him out much.

“It was a poor defensive game for us,” coach David Perno said after the game. “We didn’t make an error, but there were four or five balls we should have got to out there.”

On a play that was eerily similar to last night’s game-winning hit by David Coffey, Jeff Hourigan hit a ball over Darryl Blaze’s head to score Russell Triplett, cutting the lead to 4-3.

Perno decided to stay with the tested veteran in Sharpton, despite a high pitch count, and Clemson’s Collin Mahoney made him pay with a two-run home run that gave the Tigers a 5-4 advantage.

“We were going to let Bill go,” Perno said after the game. “I am proud of Bill. If we make some plays behind him we win.”

The Bulldogs turned to little-used reliever Chris Andersen to get them through the eighth without further damage. The freshman walked Clemson leadoff hitter David Slevin, and the top-ranked team in the land made him pay when Kyle Frank’s bloop single scored Slevin to make it 6-4 and give the Tigers the eventual game-winning run.

The Bulldogs threatened in the ninth after a leadoff single by Marshall Szabo (1-for-1, 3 BB). Kris Edge drove in Szabo on a fielder’s choice to cut the lead to 6-5, bringing last night’s hero to the plate in David Coffey.

Unfortunately for Georgia, Coffey had no more last-minute heroics up his sleeve, as he popped out to end the game.

Georgia got a good showing from senior Brandon Anglin. Anglin has been sidelined since experiencing elbow problems against Wake Forest on March 20. The senior started the game and went two effective innings in which he allowed no runs and struck out three.

Perno said he will feel a lot more confident about his starting pitching if Anglin can make a full recovery.

“When you go on the road, you can’t give a team like Clemson extra chances. You have to outplay them to win and we simply didn’t,” Perno said.

Georgia returns to action this Friday with a three-game series against LSU on the road. The Bulldogs will start Mickey Westphal (3-0, 6.29).