March 5, 2006
ATLANTA – Danny Payne and Whit Robbins each had four hits, Matt Wieters drove in four runs, and Tim Ladd pitched seven strong innings to lead No. 1 Georgia Tech (13-0) to a 11-4 win and three game sweep of visiting Rutgers (3-5) on Sunday at Russ Chandler Stadium.
Georgia Tech’s 13-0 start is the third best in school history, trailing only a 17-0 mark in 2003 and a 16-0 start in 1987. The Yellow Jackets’ own the longest current winning streak in the nation at 13 games.
Making his second start of the season, Ladd (2-0) pitched a career-high seven innings and held the Scarlet Knights to one run on five hits. He struck out a career-best five batters and did not issue a walk. Ladd allowed just two runners to advance past first base.
Payne went 4-for-5 and had a streak of 10 straight plate appearances where he reached base safely snapped when he made an out in the eighth inning. Robbins went 4-for-5 with three RBI, raising his team-leading total to 26 RBI in 13 games.
Matt Wieters had two hits and drove in four runs, Luke Murton had a season-high three hits, and Mike Trapani and Michael Fisher had two hits each. Georgia Tech tied a season high with 18 hits.
Robbins staked the Yellow Jackets to a 1-0 lead in the second inning on his team-leading fourth home run of the season.
Tech extended the lead to 3-0 in the fifth inning on a two-out, two-run double from Wieters.
Rutgers finally broke through against Ladd in the sixth inning on a solo home run from Todd Frazier, his first of the year, making the score 3-1.
The Yellow Jackets broke the game open with a five-run seventh inning that pushed the lead to 8-1. Tech batted around and sent 10 batters to the plate, including a two-run double from Murton and RBI singles from Robbins, Trapani and Fisher.
Rutgers scored two unearned runs off Tech reliever Tim Gustafson in the eighth inning to pull within 8-3.
Georgia Tech added three runs in the eighth inning, making the score 11-3. Wieters had his second two-run double of the game, and Robbins added a RBI single.
A ninth inning solo home run from Rutgers’ Steve Hook, his second in as many games, provided the final 11-4 margin.
Rutgers starter Matt Pustay (0-1) was charged with the loss, allowing five runs on 12 hits in six-plus innings.
Georgia Tech returns to action on Tuesday at 7 p.m. when the Yellow Jackets host Northeastern at Russ Chandler Stadium.
