May 21, 2008
2008 ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
#4 NC State vs. #5 Georgia Tech
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville
Final Score: Georgia Tech 10, NC State 9
Post-game Notes
Today’s game was the 22nd meeting between NC State and Georgia Tech in ACC Championship competition. The two teams have now split the all-time Championship series, with each having won 11 contests.
The Wolfpack and Yellow Jackets have met four times over the course of the last six ACC Championships, including in the 2003 title game. Each team has won two of those four matchups.
Georgia Tech is now 9-4, with one league title, in ACC Championship games held in Jacksonville, Fla. The Yellow Jackets own not only the most overall wins in Jacksonville, but also the best overall winning percentage amongst ACC teams.
After allowing two hits and a pair of runs in the opening inning, NC State starter Eric Surkamp went on to give up just five hits, while holding the Yellow Jackets scoreless over his final five innings on the mound. Surkamp’s nine strikeouts were his third-most of the 2008 season.
Georgia Tech, which recorded 14 hits in the victory, has now picked up 10 or more hits in five of its last six ACC Championship contests. The Yellow Jackets have recorded 81 hits in their last eight Championship games, for an average of 10.1 hits per game since the beginning of the 2006 Championship.
Georgia Tech junior Luke Murton celebrated his 22nd birthday by hitting his 11th home run of the season in the seventh inning to cut NC State’s early lead to three. Murton’s home run, the first of the 2008 ACC Championship, was his fourth career home run in Championship competition. Murton is tied with two others for the ACC Championship’s record for home runs in a single game with three (2006).
Between the two teams, today’s game featured at least one hit in eight of nine innings, and at least two combined baserunners in every inning. Georgia Tech and NC State combined for eight hits and seven runs scored in the eighth inning, and four hits in each the fifth and sixth innings.