April 28, 2001
ATLANTA – Matt Lynch tossed seven strong innings and Mike Futrell drove in three runs to lead No. 8 Florida State (35-13, 15-2 ACC) to a 6-2 victory over No. 10 Georgia Tech (32-14, 11-9) on Saturday afternoon at Russ Chandler Stadium. The Seminoles’ victory evened the three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series at one win apiece.
Lynch (6-2) held the Yellow Jackets to two runs, only one of which was earned, while scattering 10 hits over seven innings. He did not walk a batter and recorded one strikeout. Eric Roman and Daniel Hodges teamed to pitch two shutout innings to close out the game and preserve the victory.
Tech starter Rhett Parrott (7-4) took the loss after surrendering six runs on nine hits in 8.1 innings. He struck out seven batters, but issued six walks.
Georgia Tech took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Victor Menocal singled and scored on a RBI single from Derik Goffena, but Florida State scored three runs in the sixth to make the score 3-1. A bases loaded single from Futrell drove in Scott Toole and John-Ford Griffin before Jeff Probst’s sacrifice fly scored Ryan Barthelemy.
FSU added two more runs in the seventh on Griffin’s 13th homer of the season to stretch the lead to 5-1.
A RBI sacrifice fly from Menocal plated Matthew Boggs and made the score 5-2 in the bottom of the eighth. But Florida State answered with a sacrifice fly from Futrell in the top of the ninth to push the lead to back to four runs and provide the final scoring in the game.
The Yellow Jackets outhit the Seminoles, 10-9. However Tech hit into four double plays and left eight more runners on base, including seven in scoring position, to thwart its offensive attack.
Futrell, Griffin and Toole all had two hits for the Seminoles, while Goffena, Matt Murton, Bryan Prince and Richard Lewis each had two hits for the Yellow Jackets in a losing effort.
Georgia Tech and Florida State will play the rubber match of the three-game ACC series on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. at Russ Chandler Stadium. The game will be broadcast on WREK-Radio (91.1 FM in Atlanta) and on the internet at www.ramblinwreck.com.
