April 19, 2009
Box Score
Scroll down for video highlights and a postgame interview!
WINSTON-SALEM, NC – Brandon Cumpton and three Yellow Jacket relievers combined on a five-hit shutout of Wake Forest (20-19, 6-15 ACC) to help No. 10 Georgia Tech (26-8-1, 13-5-1 ACC) to a three-game sweep of the Demon Deacons with a 6-0 win Sunday afternoon at Gene Hooks Field at Wake Forest Baseball Park.
“Any time you go on the road in the ACC and win a series, you have to be very happy,” head coach Danny Hall said.
Cumpton (2-0) scattered four hits and struck out seven in his seven-plus innings of work. After yielding a single with two outs in the first inning, the Yellow Jacket starter faced the minimum over the next four frames before the Demon Deacons picked up their second hit of the game in the sixth.
“I thought Brandon dominated the game today,” Hall said. “He threw outstanding and had a lot of strikes. And anytime you pitch as long as he did and not walk anybody is great.
“He’s had two great weekends in a row.”
Yellow Jacket relievers Zach Brewster, Andrew Robinson and Mark Pope held the Demon Deacons scoreless over the final two innings to help Tech to its third shutout of the season.
“Our bullpen was great,” Hall added. “Brewster came in and got us some key outs, and Robinson ended the eighth with an out. Pope then did his job in the ninth.”
Jeff Rowland extended his hitting streak to 14 games when led off the game with a double, and the Yellow Jacket center fielder came around to score on an error by Wake Forest left fielder Weldon Woodall. Derek Dietrich, who reached second on the Woodall miscue, moved to third on a wild pitch by Demon Deacon starter Austin Stadler before scoring Tech’s second run of the game on a groundout by Jason Haniger.
Rowland led the Yellow Jackets with three hits, while Jason Garofalo and Cole Leonida added two hits apiece.
Stadler faced the minimum over the next three innings before exiting with an injury. The right-hander allowed just the two unearned runs in the first inning while yielding only two hits in his four innings of work.
The Jackets pushed their lead to 3-0 in the seventh inning when Leonida’s two-out single plated Garofalo, who reached on a triple off the centerfield wall.
The Deacs’ fourth hit chased Cumpton with one out in the seventh inning, but Brewster came on to get two outs on five pitches before turning the ball over the Robinson. After a single by leadoff hitter Steven Brooks put runners on the corners for Wake, Robinson got Shane Kroker to ground out, ending the threat.
The Jackets plated three runs in the ninth inning to push their lead to 6-0. Luke Murton led off the frame with a solo home run, and Garofalo added a run-scoring double with one out in the frame. Rowland then added an RBI single to plate Garofalo before the Deacs could get out of the inning.
Pope faced the minimum in the ninth – striking out the first batter and forcing a game-ending double play from Demon Deacon slugger Weldon Woodall – to complete the sweep.
Georgia Tech will return to action this week when it hosts a home-and-home series against Western Carolina. The Catamounts will travel to Atlanta for a 6 p.m. contest Tuesday, and the Yellow Jackets return the favor Wednesday when the two teams meet at 6 p.m. in Cullowhee, N.C. Both games can be heard on WREK Radio (91.1 FM in Atlanta/www.wrek.org), while live stats will be available at Ramblinwreck.com.
–Ramblinwreck.com.–
