April 5, 2006
ATLANTA – David Duncan and Matt Wieters combined on a five-hitter, and Danny Payne hit a seventh inning home run that broke a 3-3 tie as ninth-ranked Georgia Tech (23-7) defeated visiting Georgia Southern (16-16), 7-4, on Wednesday afternoon at Russ Chandler Stadium.
The Yellow Jackets won the regular season series against the Eagles for the 10th straight year, winning three of four meetings in 2006.
Wieters (1-1) earned the win in relief, working 2.2 innings and allowing one run on three hits. He struck out four batters.
Duncan dominated the Georgia Southern lineup for the first six innings, holding the Eagles hitless and allowing just one baserunner on a first inning walk. He retired 16 straight batters before allowing a leadoff single in the seventh inning. Duncan worked 6.1 innings and allowed two earned runs on two hits while striking out a career-high seven batters but did not figure in the decision.
Whit Robbins went 3-for-4, while Payne and Wieters added two hits each. Eight different Tech hitters had a hit in the game, and six different players had at least one RBI. The Yellow Jackets outhit the Eagles, 12-5.
Georgia Southern starter Josh Lairsey (3-3) took the loss, allowing four runs on nine hits in six-plus innings. He issued one walk and struck out six.
Georgia Tech took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Robbins led off the inning with a single, took second base on a groundout from Steven Blackwood and scored when Andy Hawranick legged out an infield single and Georgia Southern shortstop Brian Pierce threw the ball away.
The Yellow Jackets added two runs in the fourth inning to extend the lead to 3-0. Kindel led off the inning with a single, Robbins singled, and Steven Blackwood was hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out. Lairsey nearly worked out of the jam by striking out Mike Trapani for the second out of the inning, but Hawranick drew a walk and Michael Fisher followed with a RBI single to drive in Tech’s two runs.
The Eagles rallied for three runs in the seventh inning to tie the score at 3-3. A leadoff single from Chris Shehan and a walk to Greg Dowling put runners on first and second bases. After a groundout, Jeremiah Parker delivered a RBI single to score Shehan with the first run of the inning. A passed ball allowed the runners to advance to second and third bases before Mike Economos tied the game with a two-run single. Economos had three RBI in the game.
Tech answered with three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to take a 6-3 lead. Danny Payne led off the frame with a solo home run, his sixth of the year and second in as many games. A single from Wes Hodges, a double from Matt Wieters and an intentional walk to Robbins loaded the bases with one out. Blackwood drew a walk to force in a run and Trapani added a RBI groundout to drive in the final run of the inning.
The Jackets added an insurance run in the eighth inning when Payne doubled and scored on a RBI single from Wieters, making the score 7-3.
Georgia Southern mounted a final rally in the ninth inning when two singles and a walk loaded the bases with no outs. Wieters worked out of the jam and allowed just one run by recording a strikeout, a run-scoring groundout and a strikeout to end the game.
Georgia Tech visits Virginia Tech for a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series this weekend in Blacksburg, Va.
