March 20, 2002
ATLANTA – Victor Menocal went 3-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to 17 games, and Kyle Schmidt tossed five strong innings as 12th-ranked Georgia Tech (16-3) withstood a late Eastern Kentucky (2-13) rally and held on for a 13-9 win on Wednesday evening at Russ Chandler Stadium. The win improved the Yellow Jackets’ record to 11-0 at their new home park.
Schmidt (1-0) earned his first career victory after holding the Colonels to one run on four hits in five innings of work. He issued three walks and struck out nine batters. Andrew Kown and Chris Goodman both worked scoreless innings for the Yellow Jackets in relief.
The Yellow Jackets jumped out to a 10-1 lead after three innings, scoring three times in the first, one in the second and six in the third. Tyler Parker drove in a two runs with a triple in the first inning while Mike Nickeas added a two-run single in the third.
Tech stretched the lead to 13-2 after eight innings before EKU mounted a rally in the top of the ninth. The Colonels scored seven times, all before an out was made, highlighted by a pair of two-run singles from Andy Polzin and John Myles. Aaron Walker came out of the Tech bullpen and worked out of the jam by inducing a double play ball and a flyout to preserve the victory.
Nickeas led the Tech offense with three RBI, while Parker and Garrett Groce added two RBI apiece. All nine Tech starters had at least one hit in the game, including three from Menocal and two from Wes Rynders.
EKU starter Eric Anthrop (0-1) took the loss, allowing eight runs in two-plus innings of work. Myles and Justin Czorny each had two hits for the Colonels.
The start of the game was delayed for 44 minutes due to rain, and then for another hour and 23 minutes just one out into the top of the first inning.
Georgia Tech will return to action when the Yellow Jackets host Gardner-Webb for a two-game series at Russ Chandler Stadium beginning at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. Live scoring for the game will be available at www.ramblinwreck.com.
