April 5, 2002
ATLANTA – Georgia Tech southpaw Kyle Bakker held Duke to five hits in 7.2 innings and Wes Rynders homered to lead the sixth-ranked Yellow Jackets (25-4, 4-2 ACC) to a 4-2 win over the visiting Blue Devils (17-14, 0-4) on Friday night at Russ Chandler Stadium. The victory improved the Yellow Jackets’ record to 17-0 at their new home park and extended Tech’s overall home winning streak to 22 games dating back to last season.
Bakker improved to 8-0 in nine starts in 2002 after holding Duke scoreless for the first seven innings. For the game, he allowed two runs on five hits in 7.2 innings while striking out six batters. Philip Perry worked the final 1.1 innings to earn his first save of the season.
Tech took a 1-0 lead in the fourth when Eric Patterson led off with a single, took third base on a single from Victor Menocal, and scored on Matt Murton’s RBI infield single. Menocal, who went 2-for-4, extended his career-long hitting streak to 27 games, just one game shy of the Tech record of 28 games.
The Yellow Jackets added two more runs in the sixth, stretching the lead to 3-0. Patterson singled and scored on Menocal’s RBI double, while Menocal came around to score on a sacrifice fly from Tyler Parker.
A solo home run from Rynders, his first of the year, made the score 4-0 in the bottom of the seventh.
The Blue Devils mounted a comeback in the eighth inning, scoring two runs on a two-out, two-run single from Bryan Smith to cut the lead to 4-2. Duke mounted another rally in the ninth, putting two runners on base with two outs, before Perry worked out of the jam to preserve Tech’s win and earn the save.
Patterson led the Tech offense with three hits in four at bats, while Menocal, Murton and Rynders added two hits apiece.
Duke starter Tim Layden (3-4) took the loss, surrendering four runs on nine hits in 6.2 innings. The Blue Devil’s Kevin Kelly went 3-for-3 in the loss.
Georgia Tech and Duke will continue the three-game series on Saturday at 7 p.m., when the Yellow Jackets will send right-hander Chris Goodman (2-0, 3.92 ERA) to the mound to face Duke righty Greg Burke (1-2, 4.66). A live radio broadcast can be heard on WREK-Radio (91.1 FM in Atlanta) and on the internet at www.ramblinwreck.com. Live scoring for the game will be available at www.ramblinwreck.com.
