Feb. 21, 2015
TECH STARTERS: Spingola/CF, Smith/1B, Johnson/RF, Murray/DH, Gonzalez/LF, Justus/SS, Gold/3B, Pabst/C, Bailey/2B, King/SP.
FIU STARTERS: Schaaf/CF, Gaines/SS, Anderson/3B, Rios/DH, Portelli/LF, Robinson/1B, Escarra/C, Cody/RF, Silva/2B, Crouse/SP.
THE BASICS:
• Georgia Tech improved to 4-1 this season by rallying in the ninth inning to beat FIU, 16-9, in the opening game of the 16th annual Caravelle Resort’s Baseball at the Beach in Conway, S.C.
• After trailing 9-8 entering the ninth, Thomas Smith was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to tie the game and Kel Johnson followed by drawing a walk for a 10-9 lead.
• But it was A.J. Murray`s grand slam over the 20-foot wall in center field that made it 14-9 and put the game out of reach.
• Tech led 3-0 after the first, 6-3 in the second and 7-3 in the third before FIU (2-3) chipped away and eventually took a 9-8 lead thanks to a three-run seventh inning.
• Georgia Tech entered the game ranked 28th in the Collegiate Baseball Top 30, while FIU was ranked 23rd by Baseball America.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
• Of Tech’s 14 hits, six went for extra bases including Murray’s second career grand slam.
• It is the second consecutive game that Tech hit a grand slam as Johnson hit one in the seventh inning of Tuesday’s 7-4 win at Georgia Southern.
• Murray finished 3-for-5 and set career highs for RBI (six) and runs (four).
• Murray’s other grand slam came last year versus Georgia State.
• The Jackets’ eight-run uprising in the ninth represented their most runs in an inning since scoring 10 in the fifth during a 14-9 win at Clemson on April 27, 2103.
• Johnson extended his season-opening hitting streak to five games with a double off the wall in the second inning. It was the rookie’s seventh extra-base hit of the season. Each of his first five games have included at least one extra-base hit.
• Matt Gonzalez was 3-for-5 and both of Arden Pabst’s hits were doubles. Pabst drove in a pair, as did Connor Justus, who was 2-for-5.
• Sophomore lefty Tanner Shelton earned his first career win by tossing the final 2.1 innings, allowing no runs and no walks with four strikeouts.
• Junior lefty Jonathan King was bidding for his 10th career win and turned a 7-5 lead over to the bullpen in the sixth.
• Tech has trailed at some point in each of its first five games.
