STATESBORO, GA – Third baseman Mark Teixeira homered and drove in three runs and Rhett Parrott tossed seven shutout innings to lead top-ranked Georgia Tech (4-1) to a 10-2 victory over Georgia Southern (4-2) on Sunday afternoon at J.I. Clements Stadium.
Parrott (2-0) held the Eagles to five hits, all singles, and one walk while striking out six batters. Only two Georgia Southern batters reached second base in seven innings against the right hander.
GSU starter David Ray (0-1) took the loss after allowing seven runs on nine hits in 5.1 innings of work.
Tech broke a scoreless tie with four runs in the top of the fifth inning, all comeing after two men were out. Wes Rynders legged out an infield single, and Matthew Boggs drew a walk after falling behind inthe count 0-2. A RBI single from Richard Lewis plated Rynders, while Boggs came around to score on a wild pitch. Mark Teixeira capped off the scoring with a two-run homer to right field, his third of the season.
The Yellow Jackets pushed the lead to 7-0 with three more runs in the sixth. Derik Goffena led off the frame with a triple and came around to score on a RBI single from Tyler Parker. Lewis plated Rynders with a sacrifice fly to center field, while Teixeira delivered a RBI single to score Boggs. A RBI single from Parker in the seventh inning made the score 8-0.
Georgia Southern finally got on the scoreboard with two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning when Darryl Stephens scored on a fielder’s choice and James Payne came around on a RBI single from Matt Herring.
Jason Basil added a solo homer in the top of the ninth inning, his second of the year, to make the score 9-2. Later in the frame, Victor Menocal doubled and scored on a RBI groundout from Jon Henry Kail to provide the final 10-2 margin.
The Tech offense had 13 hits in the game, including three hits from Menocal and two apiece from Teixeira, Parker and Boggs, while Lewis and Parker each drove in two runs.
Georgia Tech will visit Georgia on Wednesday at 4 p.m. at Foley Field in Athens.
