ATLANTA (Mar. 10) — A twelve run output over the final three innings on Friday night propelled No. 18 Georgia Tech past Connecticut 12-0 at Russ Chandler Stadium.
Junior left-hander Cory Vance (3-1) picked up his third victory of the season, allowing just four hits and striking out seven, while shutting out the Huskies over his seven innings of work. Philip Perry pitched the final two frames for the Jackets to preserve the shutout.
Connecticut starting pitcher Patrick Sperone (2-1) was nearly perfect through five innings, holding the Jackets hitless into the sixth, before a leadoff home run by freshman Tyler Parker gave Tech the lead.
A sacrifice fly by Brad Stockton and RBI single by Derik Goffena increased the Tech lead to 3-0 through six, chasing Sperone out of the game.
After Vance continued to silence the Huskies’ bats in the top of the seventh, the Jackets blew the game wide open in the bottom half, scoring eight times, keyed by a two-run home run by sophomore third baseman Mark Teixeira.
The Jackets(9-5) added a lone run in the eighth to provide the final 12-0 margin.
The shutout was the first by the Georgia Tech pitching staff since a 13-0 win over Maryland on March 28, 1999, and snapped a three-game losing streak.
Georgia Tech and Connecticut (4-3) will continue their three-game weekend series on Saturday afternoon with a 1:30 p.m. contest at Russ Chandler Stadium. Sophomore right-hander Steve Kelly is scheduled to get the start on the mound for the Jackets.
