March 15, 2015
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
TECH STARTERS: Spingola/CF, Innis/LF, Johnson/RF, Murray/C, Gonzalez/3B, Smith/1B , Gooden/DH, Bailey/2B, Justus/SS, Gold/SP.
DUKE STARTERS: Perez/2B, Zyla/RF, Rosenfeld, C, Perez/DH, Bellinger/1B, Doughterty/CF, Phillips/LF, Miller/3B, Koplove/SS, Clark/SP.
THE BASICS:
• Sophomore Brandon Gold was masterful again over seven innings and Georgia Tech blanked Duke, 4-0, Sunday in Durham, N.C. to claim their second straight ACC series.
• Gold fanned a career-nine batter and has yet to allow a run in three consecutive Sunday starts.
• The Yellow Jackets improved to 14-5 overall and 4-2 in the ACC to remain in a tie for the Coastal Division lead with Miami and Virginia Tech, while the Blue Devils slipped to 14-5, 2-4.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
• The Yellow Jackets broke a scoreless tie with a pair of runs in the fourth inning and added insurance with two more runs in seventh.
• Gold did the rest as the sophomore improved to 3-0 by scattering two hits and two walks over seven dominant innings to go with his career-high nine punchouts.
• Matt Gonzalez and Thomas Smith plated in Tech’s runs in the fourth, while Kel Johnson and A.J. Murray added RBI singles in the seventh.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
• Gonzalez drove in Tech’s first run by drawing a bases-loaded walk in the fourth and he added a single in the sixth to extend his hitting streak to seven games.
• Spingola was 2-for-4, walked, stole a pair of bases and also stretched his hitting streak to seven games.
• Johnson was 2-for-4 for his team-leading ninth multi-hit game.
• The shutout win was Tech’s second of the year.
• Gold had no more than one runner on base in any inning and just one batter – Max Miller in the third inning – advanced past first base.
• Gold has thrown 22 straight shutout innings in three consecutive Sunday starts and allowed just eight hits (all singles) with three walks and 20 strikeouts.
• Zac Ryan closed out the series with two scoreless innings.
• Bailey Clark allowed three hits and two runs in five innings and was hung the loss (2-1).
QUOTEABLE:
“It’s always great to win a series on the road. We’re getting contributions from a lot of different guys. Gold has made three great starts in a row. When he throws strikes, we seem to play really good behind him. He’s played really well at third for us, and has been solid offensively, but he’s so valuable for us right now in the weekend rotation.”
— Head Coach Danny Hall
UP NEXT:
The Yellow Jackets remain on the road Tuesday night at Kennesaw State. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. at Stillwell Stadium.
