Feb. 26, 2011
ATLANTA – Junior Jed Bradley pitched seven innings of no-hit baseball to lead No. 21 Georgia Tech (5-2) to a 5-0 win over No. 23 St. John’s (2-3) Saturday afternoon at Russ Chandler Stadium.
Georgia Tech recorded its second straight shutout to clinch the three-game series, and has limited St. John’s batters to 11 hits in the first two games.
“These guys [St. John’s] are really good hitters but we have pitched really well against them,” head coach Danny Hall said. “I think all told, our guys have been around the plate and competitive with all of their pitches and that is what you want to see.”
Bradley (1-0) was masterful in his second outing of the season, striking out 10 batters while not allowing a single hit to the Red Storm in seven strong innings. The Huntsville, Ala. native allowed just three base runners on three walks, and retired the side in five of the seven innings. He now has 20 strikeouts in two starts.
“When I warmed up in the bullpen I didn’t feel like it was going to be that great of a day,” Bradley said. “But things kind of fell in place for me as the game went on.
“I am real proud of our guys. I feel like we have done a great job everywhere throughout; starting pitching, relief pitching, everything. Everyone is doing their job.”
Junior Matt Skole had a big day at the plate, going 4-for-4 with a double and an RBI to pace the Tech offense.
Skole setup the game’s first run with a single in the second inning off of St. John’s starter Kyle Hansen that put runners on the corners with no outs. Freshman Daniel Palka singled to shortstop on the next at-bat to score junior Jacob Esch for a 1-0 lead.
“I got some really good pitches to hit this weekend,” said Skole, who is 7-for-10 with five RBI in two games against St. John’s. “My swing is starting to come around, and hopefully I can keep it going tomorrow and we can get a sweep.”
Hansen (0-1) recorded seven strikeouts of his own on the afternoon, but picked up the loss after allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits in 4.0 innings.
The Jackets added another run in the third, and three more in the seventh, highlighted by a two-out two RBI double by sophomore Brandon Thomas to extend the lead to 5-0.
St. John’s recorded its first hit of the game to leadoff the eighth inning, with a single by Frankie Schwindel off of freshman reliever Dusty Isaacs. Isaacs combined with freshman DeAndre Smelter to shutout the Red Storm in the final two innings.
The series concludes on Sunday at Russ Chandler Stadium. First pitch is at 1 p.m.
Due to scheduling conflicts with the Georgia Tech women’s basketball game against Miami at 2 p.m. Sunday, the baseball game will air live on the WREK HD2 Subchannel.
The feed can be accessed by clicking the “Listen to HD2 Now” link on WREK.org or at www.ramblinwreck.com.
