March 4, 2005
DURHAM, N.C. – Jason Neighborgall struck out a career-high 12 batters and Tyler Greene homered and drove in three runs to lead No. 13 Georgia Tech (9-2, 1-0 ACC) to a 11-3 win over Duke (6-9, 0-1) on Friday afternoon in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both schools.
The Yellow Jackets won their school-record 17th straight ACC contest dating back to the 2004 season. Tech’s 17-straight wins ranks tied for the third longest streak in ACC history, four wins short of the conference record.
Neighborgall (3-0) worked five innings and allowed two runs on six hits and five walks. The junior right-hander struck out the side in the first and fifth innings, and recorded two strikeouts in the second, third and fourth innings.
Third baseman Wes Hodges went 4-for-4 with two walks to raise his season batting average to .524, and he has 12 hits in his last 16 at bats.
Greene went 3-for-6 with three RBI and Matt Wieters had three hits.
The Yellow Jackets took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning on Wes Hodges’ RBI single, and the Blue Devils tied the game in the bottom of the first when Adam Murray walked and scored from second base on a wild pitch.
Tech broke the game open with a five run third inning to take a 6-1 lead. The Yellow Jackets send 10 batters to the plate, including a RBI double from Matt Wieters and RBI singles from Greene and Danny Payne. Hodges singled and scored to make the score 7-1 in the fourth.
Greene extended the Jackets’ lead to 9-1 in the top of the fifth with a two-run homer, his first of the year.
The Blue Devils pulled to within 9-2 on Eric Baumann’s RBI double in the bottom of the fifth inning. A RBI single from Brett Smith made the score 9-3 in the seventh.
A solo home run from Andy Hawranick, his first of the year, gave Tech a 10-3 lead in the eighth. Hodges completed his 4-for-4 day with a single in the ninth and scored on Jeff Kindel’s RBI groundout.
Duke starter Greg Burke (3-2) took the loss, allowing six runs in three innings.
Brett Bartles led the Blue Devils with three hits in four at bats.
Georgia Tech and Duke will continue the three-game series on Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.
