ATLANTA – Adam Swann went 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBI to lead No. 22 Georgia (14-6) to a 15-9 win over No. 3 Georgia Tech (17-6) on Wednesday night at Russ Chandler Stadium. The loss snapped the Yellow Jackets’ four-game winning streak.
Leading 8-7 after five innings, the Bulldogs exploded for six runs in the top of the sixth to take control. Georgia was aided by a critical two-out Tech error that extended the inning and allowed five of the six runs to score. With runners on first and third with two outs and one run already in, Tech shortstop Richard Lewis booted a ball that allowed the second run of the inning to score. After Mark Thornhill drew a walk to load the bases, Doc Brooks blasted a bases clearing triple to make the score 13-7. A RBI single from Blake Bodenmiller drove in Brooks to make the score 14-7 and cap off the inning.
A solo homer from Swann, his second of the season, made the score 15-7 in the seventh inning.
The Bulldogs jumped out to a 7-0 lead after one and a half innings, but the Yellow Jackets mounted a comeback with one run in the second, three in the third and three more in the fourth to trim the lead to 8-7.
Georgia plated two runs in the first inning on Thornhill’s RBI-double and a run-scoring single by Kris Edge and then added five runs in the second as Thornhill drove in two more runs with a bases loaded single, Blake Bodenmiller knocked in one with an infield single, and Swann added a two-run double.
Trailing 7-1, Tech clawed back in the game with three runs in the third on Jason Perry’s two-run single, followed by a run scoring single from Matt Murton. The Jackets added three more in the fourth on a solo homer by Brad Stockton and then a two-run blast by Lewis.
A two-run homer in the ninth inning from Jason Basil, his third of the season, provided the final 15-9 margin.
Five different Bulldogs had at least two hits in the game, led by Swann’s three hit performance. Thornhill, who had two hits, extended his hitting streak to 24 games. Tech’s Perry went 4-for-5 in the loss, while Basil added three hits and three RBI. The Yellow Jackets outhit the Bulldogs in the game, 14-13, but Georgia was aided nine walks and three Tech errors.
Georgia’s Bill Sharpton (2-0) tossed three shutout innings to pick up the win in relief of starter Rob Moravek, who allowed seven runs in four innings of work. Tech starter Philip Perry (2-2) took the loss after surrendering five runs in 1.1 innings.
Georgia Tech will host Maryland for a three game Atlantic Conference series at Russ Chandler Stadium beginning on Friday at 7 p.m.
