March 13, 2011
ATLANTA – Sophomore Buck Farmer scattered seven hits over eight shutout innings to lead No. 24 Georgia Tech (12-4, 3-0 ACC) to a 6-2 win and series sweep of Maryland (8-7, 0-3 ACC) Sunday afternoon at Russ Chandler Stadium.
Georgia Tech has swept its conference opener 12 times in 18 years under head coach Danny Hall.
Farmer’s outing was a great finish to a fine weekend for the Georgia Tech pitching staff, which allowed just three earned runs to the Terrapins in the three-game series.
The eight innings were a career-high for the right-hander, who improved to 2-1 with the win. Farmer had six strikeouts on the afternoon, and did not issue any walks.
Freshman second baseman Mott Hyde led the team at the plate in hits, going 2-for-3 with two runs scored.
The Jackets capitalized on timely hitting in the series finale, scoring all six runs with two outs.
After two scoreless innings to open the game, Tech got things going with the bats of juniors Jacob Esch and Matt Skole.
Esch drove in the first run with a single through the right side, before Skole’s double to right field scored freshman Kyle Wren and Esch for a 3-0 lead.
Tech loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth inning on a pair of singles by Hyde and Wren, and a walk issued to Skole by Maryland starter Eric Potter. Freshman Zane Evans doubled down the right field line to bring home all three runs and make it a 6-0 game.
Potter (2-1) was credited with the loss after allowing all six runs on seven hits in 5.0 innings.
Maryland erased the shutout with two runs in the ninth inning, one on hit batsmen with the bases loaded and another on a grounder to first.
The Jackets return to action on Tuesday, hosting Georgia Southern for a pair of midweek games. First pitch is at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, and 4 p.m. on Wednesday.
