Feb. 25, 2007
ATLANTA – Wally Crancer had two hits and drove in four runs and Chris Hicks pitched five solid innings to lead No. 15 Georgia Tech (6-4) to a 15-6 win and series sweep of Duquesne (0-3) Sunday afternoon at Russ Chandler Stadium.
The Yellow Jacket offense came alive over the weekend, hitting .361 with 14 extra-base hits, including six home runs, against Duquesne.
Seven of the nine players in Tech’s starting lineup had at least two hits, and seven different Yellow Jackets drove in at least one run on Sunday afternoon against the Dukes.
Matt Wieters led the Jackets with three hits (3-for-5) on the afternoon while Crancer, Danny Payne, Tony Plagman, Luke Murton, Michael Fisher and Patrick Long added two apiece.
Crancer hit his team-leading fourth home run of the season, and Murton added his second in 2007. Crancer’s four RBI tied a career-high, set last season against Miami, while the senior extended his hitting streak to seven games.
Hicks (1-0) earned his first win of the year by allowing just two runs, only one of which was earned, on three hits in a season-high five innings of work.
Crancer smacked his three-run home run with one out in the bottom of the first inning to score Tony Plagman and Matt Wieters and give the Yellow Jackets a 3-0 lead. Tech then added two more runs in the second inning on an RBI single by Plagman and when Danny Payne scored on a fielding error by Dukes’ first baseman Aaron Janusey, which pushed the score to 5-0.
An RBI double by the Dukes’ Mike Carroll pulled Duquesne to within four runs in the fourth inning, but Payne scored on a wild pitch by Alex Sharick in the bottom of the inning to extend Tech’s lead to 6-1.
Nolan Pena earned a two-out walk, stole second base and scored on an RBI double by Bill Torre, but a groundout by Eric Morrison ended the Dukes’ scoring threat in the fifth inning with the Jackets leading 6-2.
Tech extended its lead to six runs in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI double by Patrick Long and an RBI single by Jeff Ussery, and then added four runs in the sixth to push the score to 12-2. A one-out single by Crancer drove in Plagman for his fourth RBI of the game before Murton nailed his three-run home run over the left field wall to score Crancer and Wieters.
A single by Morrison plated two runs before a home run by Derek Mechling helped the Dukes pull within six runs, 12-6, in the seventh inning.
The Jackets scored three runs in the eighth inning off a single by Chris House, which scored Crancer and Murton, and a single by Payne that plated House to cap the Jackets’ scoring at 15 runs on the day.
Yellow Jacket freshman Zach Von Tersch pitched a perfect eighth inning and Will Hirsch tossed a 1-2-3 ninth to close out the game.
Duquesne starter Travis Rife (0-1) took the loss, allowing five runs on four hits in three innings of work.
The Jackets will return to action Tuesday afternoon when they host Western Carolina at Russ Chandler Stadium. First pitch has been moved to 1 p.m. due to Georgia Tech’s travel plans for Wednesday’s game against the Atlanta Braves in Orlando. A live, online video broadcast of Tuesday’s game can be found on ACC Select (gatech.playonsports.tv) while fans may listen to the game live on WREK-Radio, 91.1 FM in Atlanta, and online at www.wrek.org. Live stats can be found at www.ramblinwreck.com.
