ATLANTA (Apr. 18) – Junior Derik Goffena had four hits and drove in four runs and the Georgia Tech offense pounded out a season-high 22 hits as the sixth-ranked Yellow Jackets defeated Georgia Southern, 17-5, on Tuesday night at Russ Chandler Stadium.
The victory extended Tech’s (32-8) winning streak to a season-long 14 games, and the Jackets have won 23 of their last 25 contests.
Senior Ben Sheeter (2-2) picked up the victory after allowing three runs on seven hits in seven innings of work. After surrendering three runs and six hits in the first inning, Sheeter settled down to retire 19 of the 22 batters he faced in the next six innings. He finished with five strikeouts and did not walk a batter.
Georgia Southern (24-15) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning with RBI singles from Matt Easterday, Jason Hinely and Brett Griffin. The Yellow Jackets responded with two runs in the bottom of the first and then took a 4-3 lead with two more runs in the third inning.
The Yellow Jackets broke the game open with three runs in the fifth, three more in the seventh and six runs in the eighth innings.
Tech’s Mark Teixeira went 3-for-4 and drove in three runs to extend his hitting streak to 18 games. Goffena’s 4-for-6 performance extended his hitting streak to 17 games. Jason Basil added three hits, while Richard Lewis, Brad Stockton, Bryan Prince and Victor Menocal each added two hits in the game.
The Eagles’ Philip Roland (3-3) took the loss after surrendering eight runs on 11 hits in five innings of work. Georgia Southern was led at the plate by Easterday and Griffin, who each had two hits and drove in two runs.
Georgia Tech and Georgia Southern will wrap up the two-game series on Wednesday at 4 p.m. at Russ Chandler Stadium.
