Feb. 9, 2002
STATESBORO – Sophomore Kyle Bakker tossed seven shutout innings and freshman Clifton Remole hit a two-run homer to lead 13th-ranked Georgia Tech to a 10-2 victory over Georgia Southern on Saturday afternoon at J.I. Clements Stadium in the season opener for both schools.
The win was Tech’s 14th straight victory in the series with Georgia Southern, and it marked the Yellow Jackets’ 11th straight win over the Eagles in Statesboro.
Bakker (1-0) dominated Georgia Southern batters for seven innings, holding the Eagles to just four hits – all singles. He struck out seven batters and did not issue a walk.
The Yellow Jackets took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning on the work of four freshmen. Jeremy Slayden led off the inning with a single, his first collegiate hit, and took second base on a walk to Brandon Boggs. After a sacrifice bunt from Clifton Remole put runners on second and third bases, Eric Patterson drove in Slayden with a RBI groundout.
Tech pushed the lead to 3-0 in the fourth inning on a two-run homer down the right field line from Remole. The Yellow Jackets made the score 4-0 in the seventh when Victor Menocal singled, stole second and third bases, and scored on a throwing error from GSU catcher A.J. Zickgraf.
The Yellow Jackets put the game away with six runs in the top of the ninth inning, making the score 10-0. Brandon Boggs and Wes Rynders each had RBI doubles in the inning, while Slayden and Matt Murton added RBI singles. Boggs, Slayden and Menocal each had two hits in the game.
Georgia Southern had a chance to score in the bottom of the sixth inning when leadoff batter Chris Walker, who went 4-for-5 in the game, reached third base with no outs, but Bakker struck out the next three batters to end the threat. The Eagles also had opportunities to score in the seventh and eighth innings, but failed to scratch the scoreboard after putting runners in scoring position. All told, Georgia Southern was 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position prior to scoring two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Georgia Southern starter Brett Lewis (0-1) took the loss after allowing three runs on four hits in five innings of work.
The two teams will conclude the two-game series on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
