March 31, 2015
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
TECH STARTERS: Spingola/CF, Peurifoy/RF, Gonzalez/3B, Murray/DH, Smith/1B, Justus/SS, Gold/3B, Bailey/2B, Pabst/C, Stanton/SP.
GEORGIA STARTERS: Wrenn/CF, Weber/RF, Bowers/1B, Walsh/DH, Kieboom/3B, Stephens/C, Smith/LF, Bell/2B, King/SS, Avidano/SP.
THE BASICS:
· Junior Matt Gonzalez was 3-for-4 with a home run and four RBI as Georgia Tech thumped No. 21 Georgia, 13-6, on Tuesday night at Foley Field in Athens, Ga.
· Thomas Smith also homered for the Yellow Jackets, who claimed the first of three regular-season meetings versus the Bulldogs.
· Tech improved to 18-10 with the win, while Georgia slipped to 18-12.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
· Tech struck for three runs in the first, added three more in the second and tacked on two in the third after Georgia scored five times in the second.
· The Jackets added insurance with two more in the fifth and three in the eighth.
· Connor Justus’ two-out, two-RBI double to the gap in left made it 3-0 in the first.
· Gonzalez followed in the second when he launched a three-run laser over the wall in left-center to make it 6-0.
· Georgia rallied to knock Tech starter Devin Stanton from the game with a five-run uprising in the third, but sophomore Matt Phillips entered to quell the rally.
· Phillips got a pair of strikeouts to end the second and pitched 2.1 innings of effective relief with three strikeouts to earn the win (3-0).
· Arden Pabst and Gonzalez drove in Tech’s runs in the fifth and Smith’s first bomb of the year kick-started Tech’s rally in the eighth.
· Tanner Shelton, Matthew Gorst and Joe Wiseman combined to shutout the Bulldogs over the final 5.2 innings.
· Tech played error-free, got two defensive gems up the middle from sophomore SS Connor Justus and turned a pair of double plays.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
· Tuesday’s game was the 363rd all-time meeting between Tech and Georgia, and while the Bulldogs lead the series 201-160-2, the Yellow Jackets are 12-6 in the last 18 meetings.
· Tech head coach Danny Hall improved to 43-32 versus Georgia.
· The Jackets remained unbeaten versus in-state teams this season (4-0).
· Tech out-hit Georgia 13-10 with multi-hit efforts from Gonzalez, Wade Bailey, Pabst and Ryan Peurifoy.
· Leadoff hitter Daniel Spingola extended his reached-base streak to 19 games by drawing three walks, getting hit by a pitch and scoring two times.
· Bailey, who missed Sunday’s game at Louisville with an ankle injury, reached base four times via two hits and two errors and scored three times.
· Peurifoy was 2-for-5 and drove in two runs, while Pabst was 2-for-4 with two RBI.
· Gonzalez’s four RBI matched a career-high that he set versus Georgia State in 2013.
· Bailey’s three runs also tied a career-high (vs. Indiana State on Feb. 28).
· Phillips matched his career-high with three strikeouts.
QUOTEABLE:
“We got a lead early, we gave it back, but the two plays that Justus made were key plays that turned what looked like hits into outs. The first one (in the sixth) would have been a run had he not made that play. He’s a great player. And then we turned a double play on their toughest guy (Stephen Wrenn). We had good at-bats most of the night, but out defense has been the staple for us.”
— Head Coach Danny Hall
“Anyone that understands college baseball knows this is a huge rivalry, so it’s big to get Game 1 here. Our defense was key tonight. CJ (Connor Justus) made a couple nice plays up the middle and our pitching kept us in it.”
— Junior Matt Gonzalez
UP NEXT: The Yellow Jackets are on the road again Wednesday at Georgia State. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. and the game can be heard live on WREK 91.1 FM Atlanta.
