Feb. 24, 2012
ATLANTA – Junior righty Buck Farmer fanned a career-high 13 batters and the offense pounded out 15 hits as No. 10 Georgia Tech rolled past Ohio State, 12-4, Friday night in the opener of a three-game series at Russ Chandler Stadium.
Sam Dove had three hits, while Chase Butler and Daniel Palka each homered for the Yellow Jackets (5-1), who led 9-1 after the fourth inning and never looked back in winning their fifth-straight game.
Farmer, who matched his previous career-high of nine strikeouts in Tech’s season-opener versus Kent State, racked up 13 punchouts and allowed just four runs on three hits to earn his first win of the season (1-1). The last Jacket with 13 strikeouts was Deck McGuire in the 2009 home-opener versus Lipscomb.
“I thought Buck threw the ball well, but he lost command of his fastball there for a while,” said head coach Danny Hall, who improved to 18-1 in home openers as Tech’s head coach. “He had 13 strikeouts, but I know he can throw better and I know he’d like to throw better, but he did his job.”
Ohio State (2-2) held a brief 1-0 lead in the second inning when Josh Dezse homered to lead off the frame. It was the first of three solo shots for the reigning Big Ten Player of the Week, who finished 3-for-4 with 3 RBI.
Tech got that run right back in the bottom half thanks to back-to-back doubles down each line from Zane Evans and Jake Davies that ignited a crowd of 1,840. Later that inning, Mott Hyde’s sacrifice fly gave the White & Gold the lead for good.
Paul Kronenfeld ripped an RBI double down the the right-field line as part of a four-run third inning and Butler’s first career home run led off a three-run fourth inning.
Tech hung eight runs and seven hits over three innings on OSU starter Brett McKinney, who slipped to 0-2.
“We swung the bat very well the last two times out and that’s good to see,” said Hall. “We’ve made some adjustments (from last weekend) and we’re more relaxed and taking much better swings and having much tougher at bats.”
Davies, Kronenfeld, Evans and Brandon Thomas each had two of Tech’s season-high 15 hits.
The series continues Saturday at 2 p.m. Following the game, Tech will host a “Meet The Jackets” event in which fans can get autographs and tours of Russ Chandler Stadium. For tickets, call 1-888-TECH-TIX or visit ramblinwreck.com/tickets.
