Feb. 13, 2005
STATESBORO, Ga. – Wes Hodges and Jeremy Slayden each homered and drove in three runs, and Steven Blackwood added a three-run double to lead No. 13 Georgia Tech (2-1) to a 13-6 win over Georgia Southern (0-2) on Sunday afternoon at J.I. Clements stadium.
The Yellow Jackets won their 18th straight game over the Eagles in Statesboro dating to the 1997 season.
After being held to four hits in the season-opening 5-2 loss to Georgia State, Tech had 29 hits in the two-game sweep of Georgia Southern.
Blake Wood (1-0) earned the win in his first start of the year, working five innings and allowing three runs on seven hits. Tech’s Matt Wieters and Jared Hyatt worked 2.2 innings of scoreless relief.
Blackwood and Slayden each had three hits, while Hodges, Whit Robbins, Matt Wieters and Mike Trapani added two hits apiece.
With the score tied at 3-3 after four innings, the Yellow Jackets struck for three runs in the fifth to take a 6-3 lead. Trapani had a RBI single and Andy Hawranick added a sacrifice fly, while two Georgia Southern errors led to the third run of the inning.
After the Eagles closed to within 6-4 on A.J. Zickgraf’s sacrifice fly in the sixth, Tech broke the game open with a four-run seventh inning that made the score 10-4. Singles from Trapani and Jeff Kindel and a walk to Danny Payne loaded the bases with one out before Hodges plated a run with a walk and Blackwood cleared the bases with a double.
Slayden hit a three-run homer off the center field batter’s eye to make the score 13-4 in the top of the ninth inning. A two-run double from Derrick Smith in the bottom of the inning provided the final 13-6 margin.
Smith staked the Eagles to a 1-0 lead in the second with a solo home run, and Brandon Ponder added a RBI single later in the inning to make the score 2-0.
Tech answered with a RBI single from Wieters in the third inning to cut the lead to 2-1. Hodges hit a two run homer, his second in three games, to give the Yellow Jackets a 3-2 lead in the top of the fourth inning.
A solo home run from Jason Hurst, his first of the year, tied the score at 3-3 in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Georgia Southern starter Everett Teaford (0-1) took the loss, allowing six runs on nine hits in 4.1 innings.
Georgia Tech returns to action next weekend when the Yellow Jackets host Iona for a three-game series beginning on Friday at 4 p.m.
