April 21, 2010
ATLANTA – Thomas Nichols had five hits, including two doubles and two home runs, to lead the third-ranked Georgia Tech baseball team (33-5) to an 18-4 victory over Georgia Southern (21-17) in midweek action Wednesday at Russ Chandler Stadium.
The five hits were a career-high for Nichols, who also added a career high five RBI in his 5-for-5 performance. Four of his hits went for extra bases, as he grabbed two doubles in addition to his sixth and seventh home runs of the season.
“I just tried to take advantage of pitchers attacking me because they don’t want to face other guys in our lineup,” said junior Thomas Nichols, who hits in the No. 7 spot for Georgia Tech. “We have a really dangerous lineup, and I kind of take it personal that pitchers are attacking me with a bunch of fastballs. I guess the results are going good right now, but I have to keep the same mentality and just pick up our teammates.”
Not to be overshadowed by Nichols performance, was a 4-for-5 day at the plate by senior Tony Plagman.
It was the third time in the last six games (eight days) that Plagman had four hits. The senior first baseman drove in four runs, and hit his team-leading 14th home run of the season.
The Jackets completed a four-game midweek series sweep of Georgia Southern, and improved to 10-1 against in-state opponents this season.
Freshman Buck Farmer (4-1) recorded the win after allowing two runs on one hit in 3.0 innings of a designated staff day on the mound. Farmer struck out three batters.
Tech jumped out to a 4-0 lead on five hits in the first inning off of Georgia Southern starter Justin Hess. Junior Derek Dietrich plated the first run of the game with the single to right field before Plagman’s solo shot to right field. Tech scored the other two on a wild pitch and a sac fly RBI to center by junior Chase Burnette.
Hess pitched just one inning, and fell to 0-1 on the season after surrendering the four runs.
The Jackets batted around for eight runs on six hits in the fifth to extend the lead to 15-3. Tech hit for the cycle as a team in the inning, scoring runs on a single from Jeff Rowland, double from Dietrich, triple from Plagman and a three-run homer from Nichols. Sophomore Matt Skole also added a sac fly RBI to right field.
The Jackets closed out the scoring with a single from sophomore Evan Martin in the seventh, and a two-run dinger from Nichols in the eighth.
Tech returns to action this weekend with a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series against Virginia Tech at Russ Chandler Stadium. Game times are 7 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
