March 19, 2005
ATLANTA – Jeff Kindel hit a two-run homer while Lee Hyde and Tim Gustafson combined on a four-hitter to lead No. 5 Georgia Tech (18-2, 8-0 ACC) to a 5-0 win over NC State (15-7, 3-5) on Saturday night at Russ Chandler Stadium.
The Yellow Jackets extended their ACC-record regular season conference win streak to 24 games. Tech recorded its first shutout since May 11, 2003, and NC State lost consecutive games for the first time in 2005.
Hyde (3-0) worked a career-high seven innings before leaving the game after throwing 103 pitches. The southpaw held the Wolfpack scoreless on four hits and two walks while striking out six.
Gustafson worked the final two innings and did not allow a hit while striking out two.
The Yellow Jackets streak of 18 straight games with nine or more runs was snapped and Tech was held to under nine runs for only the second time in 20 games. Kindel finished 2-for-4, while Any Hawranick, Steven Blackwood and Jeremy Slayden added two hits each. Tyler Greene, Wes Hodges and Danny Payne each extended their double figure hitting streaks – Greene to 14, Hodges to 13 and Payne to 11.
Tech built a 4-0 lead through the first three innings. Slayden had a RBI single in the first inning, and the Yellow Jackets had a chance to score even more but Kindel grounded into a double play with the bases loaded to end the threat. Hawranick doubled and scored on Payne’s two-out RBI single in the second. Kindel hit a two-run homer, his third of the year, in the third inning.
From there, the game turned into a pitcher’s duel between Hyde and NC State starter Branden Knapp (1-1). Hyde held the Wolfpack to seven baserunners in seven innings, and did not allow a runner to advance past second base. NC State’s best offensive opportunity came in the sixth inning when a single and a walk put two runners on base with one out, but Hyde got a flyout and a groundout to end the inning.
Knapp settled down after a rough first three innings and held the Yellow Jackets scoreless over the next four frames, retiring 12 of 13 hitters from the fourth through the seventh. The left-hander allowed four runs on 10 hits in 7.1 innings and took the loss.
Singles from Blackwood and Slayden chased Knapp from the game in the eighth inning. The Yellow Jackets made the score 5-0 on a bases loaded RBI groundout from Hawranick off reliever Matt Payne.
Georgia Tech and NC State will conclude the series on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
