March 28, 2007
ATLANTA – Danny Payne and Michael Fisher each posted two hits while nine Yellow Jacket pitchers combined to hold the Eagles to two runs as Georgia Tech (16-11) defeated Georgia Southern (16-14), 6-2, to sweep the two-game midweek series at Russ Chandler Stadium Wednesday afternoon.
Payne went 2-for-4 with a double, RBI, stolen base and two runs scored while Fisher was 2-for-3 with two RBI.
Payne hit .556 (5-for-9) with a double, triple, two stolen bases, four runs scored and two RBI in the two-game series against the Eagles, while Fisher went 4-for-7 (.571) with a double, sacrifice fly, three RBI and two runs scored.
With the win, the Yellow Jackets improved to 4-4 against instate foes this year after starting the season 0-2 in Statesboro.
Tech scored a run in the first inning for the third straight game, taking a 1-0 lead on a two-out RBI single by Matt Wieters, but Georgia Southern’s Jeremiah Parker doubled to lead off the third inning, moved to third on a groundout and scored on an RBI single by Jeremy Beckham to tie the game at 1-1.
The Jackets answered with three runs in the bottom of the third to regain the lead, 4-1, on back-to-back doubles by Jason Haniger and Payne and a two-run home run by Murton, his fifth of the season.
A sacrifice fly by Michael Fisher pushed the score to 5-1 in the fourth inning, and the junior shortstop helped Tech to a five-run lead with an RBI single in the sixth inning. Payne reached on a one-out single, stole second base and scored on Fisher’s second hit of the game.
A two-out RBI single by Brian Pierce narrowed the Jackets’ lead to 6-2 in the top of the seventh but after Matt Miller walked to load the bases, Wieters took the mound and struck out Mike Economos on three pitches to end the Eagle threat.
Wieters, Tim Ladd, Andrew Robinson, Elliott Ogawa, Brad Rulon, Michael Hutts and Zach Von Tersch all made scoreless outings on the day, while Yellow Jacket starter Jared Hyatt (4-0) earned the win by holding the Eagles to one run on two hits through the first three innings.
Georgia Southern starter Aaron Eubanks (1-2) took the loss, giving up four runs on five hits in two innings of work.
The Jackets return to action this weekend when they host the Maryland Terrapins in a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series beginning Friday at 7 p.m. First pitch for Saturday and Sunday is 1 p.m., and live video for all three games can be found on ACC Select (gatech.playonsports.tv). WREK-Radio (91.1 FM/www.wrek.org) will broadcast the series, and live stats will be available at www.ramblinwreck.com.
