ATLANTA – Freshman Matt Murton homered twice and drove in eight runs and Georgia Tech (24-7) used an 11-run third inning as the third-ranked Yellow Jackets defeated Georgia State (14-18), 23-4, on Wednesday night at Russ Chandler Stadium.
Tech starter Brian Sager (2-0) picked up the win after tossing four hitless and scoreless innings in a scheduled staff day that featured six Yellow Jacket pitchers. Sager allowed just two baserunners and struck out six.
Georgia State’s Jason Payne (0-1) suffered the loss after surrendering eight runs on eight hits in 2.1 innings.
Murton finished with three hits in four at bats, including a pair of three run homers in the 11-run third inning. He added a RBI groundout in the first inning and a RBI double in the fourth.
The Yellow Jackets jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the first inning before putting the game away in the third by stretching the lead to 13-0. Tech added five more runs in the fourth and topped off the evening with a five-run eighth inning.
Six different Yellow Jackets had at least two hits in the game, led by a 4-for-6 performance from Richard Lewis. Wes Rynders and Brian Jackson both had three hits, while Victor Menocal and Jason Basil each added two hits and two RBI. In all, the Georgia Tech offense pounded out a season-best 25 hits en route to tying a season-high with 23 runs.
Georgia State scored all four of its runs in the top of the eighth, with RBI from Jay Fields, Mic Knox and Paulo Schlosser.
Georgia Tech will visit Duke for a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series beginning on Friday at 7 p.m. at Jack Coombs Field. The game will be broadcast on WREK-Radio (91.1 FM in Atlanta) and on the internet at www.ramblinwreck.com.
