March 23, 2003
ATLANTA – Steven Blackwood hit a grand slam and drove in six runs, and Matt Murton added three hits and a home run to lead an 18-hit attack as No. 2 Georgia Tech (20-2, 3-0 ACC) routed visiting Maryland (5-15, 0-6), 20-6, on Sunday afternoon at Russ Chandler Stadium. The victory completed the Yellow Jackets’ three-game sweep of the Terrapins in the weekend series.
Tech’s Brian Burks (1-0) earned the win in his first start of the season, working six innings. He allowed three runs on five hits and one walk while striking out a season-high seven batters.
The Yellow Jackets scored four runs in both the first and second innings, and scored at least one run in each of their eight times at bat. Tech scored 45 runs on 49 hits in the three-game series, and the Yellow Jackets scored in 19 of their 24 innings at bat.
A pair of two-run home runs from Clifton Remole, his second of the season, and Mike Nickeas, his fifth, gave Tech a 4-0 lead in the first inning. A two-run double from Brandon Boggs, a RBI single from Eric Patterson and a sacrifice fly from Murton provided the damage in the second inning.
Maryland scored two runs on Matt Maropis’ single in the second inning and added another run on Anthony Buffone’s RBI single in the third, but the Yellow Jackets scored single runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings, including a solo homer from Murton in the fifth, to make the score 11-3. Tech added two more runs in the sixth inning, including a RBI single from Jake Hall, to extend the lead to 13-3.
Maryland’s Mike Costantino hit a three-run homer, his first of the year, to make the score 13-6 in the top of the seventh inning, but Blackwood drove in two runs with a triple in the bottom of the inning to push the lead back to 15-6. Georgia Tech capped the scoring with a five-run eighth inning, which included Blackwood’s grand slam, his second home run of the season.
The Yellow Jackets scored a season-high 20 runs and matched a season high with 18 hits. Murton paced the Tech offense with a 3-for-3 performance, while Nickeas, Blackwood, Boggs, Tyler Greene, and Andy Hawranick all added two hits in the game.
Maryland starter Todd Ainsworth (0-1) took the loss, surrendering eight runs on seven hits and three walks in one-plus inning of work.
With the victory, the Yellow Jackets have now won 15 straight and 26 of the last 27 games played in Atlanta against Maryland.
Georgia Tech will return to action when the Yellow Jackets host Mercer on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The game will be televised regionally by Comcast Sports Southeast (CSS, cable channel 45 in Atlanta). Radio coverage will be available on WREK-Radio (91.1 FM in Atlanta), while live statistics and the radio broadcast will be available on the internet at www.ramblinwreck.com.
