April 3, 2012
KENNESAW, Ga. – No. 23 Georgia Tech opened a 7-0 lead in the sixth inning and rolled past Kennesaw State, 7-3, Tuesday night at Stillwell Stadium to sweep the two-game season series from the Owls. Brandon Thomas had two hits and drove in two runs for the Jackets.
Freshman RHP Cole Pitts gave Tech another quality midweek start, working four innings on a predetermined pitch count and turning a 4-0 lead over the bullpen to start the bottom of the fifth. The rookie allowed just two hits with no walks and five strikeouts to improve to 4-1.
“Pitts threw the ball great,” said head coach Danny Hall, who won his 798th game in 19 years at Tech. “We just wanted to get him work and get him ready for the weekend and the guys behind him threw well.”
After three scoreless innings, the Jackets (19-11) got the offense going in the fourth when Kyle Wren ripped an RBI single to left that scored Connor Lynch, who singled earlier in the frame. Mott Hyde, who also reached on a single, also scored on Wren’s hit as the ball got by the left fielder, Jacob Bruce. Wren took third on the error and scampered home on a wild pitch for a 3-0 Tech lead.
“Wren’s hit was very important to get us started,” said Hall. “We had left some guys on earlier in the game. We needed a guy to break the ice and he did it.”
Sam Dove doubled off the left-field wall in the fifth inning and scored when Davies laced an RBI single up the middle for a 4-0 advantage. The visitors opened a 7-0 margin in the sixth thanks to a two-RBI double down the left-field line by Thomas and a sacrifice fly from Zane Evans.
The Owls (18-12) pushed all three of their runs across in the sixth with a two-run single from Ronnie Freeman and an RBI double from Andy Almonte.
Tech, which outhit KSU 13-7, got two hits each from Wren, Thomas, Dove, Lynch and Hyde.
Four relievers followed Pitts, with Clay Dalton, Alex Cruz and Evans each firing a scoreless innings. The defense played error-free and got a clutch play from Davies at first, as KSU threatened in the eighth inning with runners at second and third and two outs. Chris McGowan ripped a missile up the line, but Davies dove to his left to catch the liner, that kept Tech’s 7-3 lead in safe.
“I told the team afterwards that the impressive thing was we didn’t make any errors and I thought Davies had three very nice plays at first,” said Hall.
The Jackets are now 5-3 in midweek games this season and return home for a key ACC series versus No. 2 Florida State this weekend. The series is underway Friday at Russ Chandler Stadium at 7 p.m.
