March 31, 2012
ATLANTA – Brandon Thomas’ RBI double in the eighth inning broke the scoreless tie and Buck Farmer fired a complete-game, 11-strikeout gem to lift No. 21 Georgia Tech past Duke, 1-0, in the first game of a doubleheader Saturday at Russ Chandler Stadium.
Farmer’s third career complete-game bested a gem tossed by Duke starter Marcus Stroman as the two dueled through seven innings of no-walk, shutout baseball. The victory improved Tech to 17-10 overall, 5-5 in the ACC, while the Blue Devils slipped to 11-16, 4-6.
Freshman Thomas Smith went 2-for-3 and his single to right field with one out got things going for the Jackets in the eighth. The rookie swiped second, moved to third on Wren’s groundout and scored when Thomas ripped his ninth double to the left field gap.
Farmer pitched a three-up-three-down ninth inning to slam the door on the Blue Devils and record Tech’s first complete-game shutout since former Jacket Mark Pope did it last season versus Boston College on March 22. Farmer allowed just three hits with no walks and his 11 strikeouts were two shy of his career high.
Stroman was on the hook for the tough-luck loss (3-3) as the junior, who entered the day as the ACC’s leader with 60 strikeouts, worked 7.2 innings and allowed six hits, a run, no walks and 12 punchouts. Stroman and Farmer continued to pace the league in strikeouts with 72 and 58, respectively, this season.
Kyle Wren and Thomas shared Tech’s other four hits.
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