May 1, 2009
ATLANTA – Sophomore Deck McGuire scattered two hits over seven innings, and 10th-ranked Georgia Tech (29-11-1) belted five home runs to down Presbyterian (10-32), 16-2, Friday night at Russ Chandler Stadium.
McGuire held the Blue Hose scoreless while throwing just 82 pitches in his seven innings to improve to 8-0 on the season. He did not issue a walk and fanned 10 Presbyterian batters on the night.
McGuire held the Blue Hose hitless until the fourth inning and didn’t allow the second hit until the top of the seventh, when Jared Combs reached on a two-out single. The right-hander reached 10 K’s for the third time this season while improving to 16-1 in his career as a Yellow Jacket.
The Yellow Jackets snapped a scoreless tie with an eight-run fourth inning, which was highlighted by three-run home runs from Tony Plagman and Derek Dietrich. Dietrich then added another home run – a solo shot – in the sixth inning to finish the game 3-for-4 with four RBI. All three of his hits went for extra bases, including his first-inning double to the right field gap.
Plagman, who also homered twice, went 3-for-5 with a career-high five RBI in addition to scoring three runs in the series opener, while Chase Burnette also added three hits on a night that the Jackets collected 17 as a team.
Tech’s eight-run, fourth-inning explosion was started by Jason Haniger, who reached on a wild pitch after striking out to lead off the frame. After Luke Murton was issued a walk to put runners on first and second, Plagman smacked his 12th homer of the season off the scoreboard to put the Jackets ahead, 3-0. A two-run single by Evan Martin preceded Dietrich’s seventh home run of the year, which gave Tech a comfortable eight-run lead.
Dietrich’s second home run came with two outs in the sixth, and it was followed by a two-run single from Matt Skole and Burnette’s third hit of the day, which plated Tech’s 12th run of the game.
Presbyterian avoided the shutout with a two-run home run by Tony Micklon in the top of the eighth inning, but the Jackets answered with three in the bottom of the frame to account for the final 14-run margin. Back-to-back home runs by Plagman and Brandon Miller pushed Tech’s lead to 15-2, and Martin capped the scoring with his second run-scoring hit of the day. The Tech infielder finished the game 2-for-5 with three RBI.
Thomas Nichols finished off the game by tossing a scoreless ninth inning.
Georgia Tech and Presbyterian continue the series Saturday at 6 p.m., with the Yellow Jackets looking for their 30th win of the season. The game can be heard on WREK Radio (91.1 FM in Atlanta/www.wrek.org) while live stats will be available at Ramblinwreck.com.
–Ramblinwreck.com.–
