ATLANTA (March 12) — Sophomore center fielder Wes Rynders slapped out four singles, while third baseman Mark Teixeira tallied three hits and drove in five, as No. 18 Georgia Tech defeated Connecticut 17-7 on Sunday afternoon at Russ Chandler Stadium.
Despite falling behind in the early going, the Jackets (10-6) used late fireworks for the second time in the weekend series to overwhelm the Huskies (5-4).
After Tech took a 2-0 lead in the third on RBI singles by Teixeira and Bryan Prince, the Huskies plated four runs in the top of the fourth to take a 4-2 lead.
The Jackets narrowed the lead to 4-3 in the bottom half of the fourth, before the offensive attack began in the fifth. A solo home run to lead off the frame by Brad Stockton knotted the score at 4-4, before a series of walks and Husky errors allowed the next five batters to circle the bases as well, giving the Jackets a 9-4 lead.
The 9-4 lead was more than enough support for sophomore right-hander Rhett Parrott (2-1) who allowed four runs, two earned, and five hits over his six innings of work while picking up the victory.
Uconn narrowed the lead to 9-6 in the seventh off Tech reliever Andy Mitchell, before the Jackets stormed back with three in the bottom half of the inning to double the lead to 12-6.
The Jackets scored five more times in the bottom of the eighth to cap off the offensive attack, keyed by Teixeira’s third hit of the afternoon, a towering three-run home run off of UConn reliever Charles Bowman.
Georgia Tech returns to action on Tuesday afternoon in a 4 p.m. contest against arch-rival Georgia at Foley Field in Athens.
