June 7, 2002
ATLANTA – Kyle Bakker took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, while Tyler Parker and Clifton Remole homered to pace an 18-hit Georgia Tech attack as the 9th-ranked Yellow Jackets defeated 19th-ranked Florida Atlantic, 14-3, in game one of the NCAA Atlanta Super Regional Friday night at Russ Chandler Stadium.
Tech (50-14) reached 50 wins in a season for only the fourth time in its history, joining the 1987, 1994 and 2000 teams, and is within one win of advancing to the College World Series. The Jackets have been within one win on three other occasions (1971, 1994 and 1998), but advanced only in 1994. Tech and FAU (46-20) meet again at 7 p.m. Saturday in game two.
Bakker improved to 12-2 and took a no-hitter into the sixth for the second time in the NCAA Tournament. The 6-9 sophomore from Omaha, Neb., surrendered two runs in the sixth inning after a leadoff throwing error by Victor Menocal was followed by four FAU singles.
The lefthander pitched seven innings, scattering six hits and a pair of walks while striking out four. He allowed all three Owl runs, two of them earned. Nick Wagner and Jordan Crews each pitched an inning to finish the game.
“Bakker was outstanding,” said Tech head coach Danny Hall. “He may have gotten a little tired, but he gave us seven strong innings and it was just an outstanding game by our team.”
Tech bunched three hits to score a run in the first, then broke the game open with six runs in the fourth and five more in the fifth.
“It was a very good night for us,” said Hall. ” I thought a key was that Kyle Bakker got three outs in the first inning, and we were able to score a run in the first inning. And the second time through the order, I thought our guys locked in on [FAU pitcher Danny] Core, and were able to score in the fourth and fifth innings.”
Parker, who started both rallies with hits, began the fourth-inning outburst with his 11th home run of the season, and Remole belted his fourth round-tripper of the season three batters later. Jeremy Slayden drove in two runs with a double and later scored on a balk.
Remole and Eric Patterson drove in a run each in the fifth with singles, and Slayden singled to drive in two more. Menocal walked and later scored on a wild pitch.
Tech added single runs in the seventh and eighth on sacrifice flies by Matthew Boggs and Menocal.
“Remole had some big hits for us, and I think it really jumpstarted the offense, and that’s the way its been with different guys coming through at different times all year,” Hall said.
Core (8-6) took the loss after giving up seven runs on eight hits over 3 2/3 innings. L.J. Biernbaum and Rusty Brown drove in a run each with singles in the sixth, and the Owls added a run in the seventh on Jeff Fiorentino’s double.
“I was very impressed with the way they swung the bats. I thought their second baseman (Patterson) played a great game on the field and had chances and is a good little ball player,” said FAU coach Kevin Cooney. “It’s a three game series, and we’ll play hard tomorrow hopefully to a little better job on the mound and start things off and hopefully hit early in the games to get us going. If we hit then we play well and hopefully that will be the case tomorrow.”
