May 6, 2007
TAMPA – Wally Crancer’s two-run single with one out in the eighth inning gave Tech a 2-1 lead and Luke Murton added a three-run home run later in the frame to help No. 24 Georgia Tech (29-17) to a 12-2 victory over USF (28-20) Sunday afternoon at Red McEwen Field on the campus of the University of South Florida.
The Jackets scored five runs in the eighth and added seven in the top of the ninth to earn their second victory in the three-game series. The Yellow Jacket pitching staff of Eddie Burns, Jared Hyatt and Andrew Robinson held the Bulls to just two runs on four hits while striking out seven in the contest
Shawn Sanford (1-4) held the Yellow Jackets scoreless through the first seven innings, but ran into trouble in the eighth when back-to-back singles by Jason Garofalo and Danny Payne chased him from the game. Sanford, the regular closer for the USF pitching staff, gave up just four hits through the first seven innings and finished with four strikeouts, but took his fourth loss of the season after Crancer’s bases-loaded single off reliever James Rowe plated Garofalo and Payne to give Tech a 2-1 lead.
After Rowe forced Tony Plagman to fly out for the second out of the eighth inning, Murton pulled the fifth pitch he saw off reliever Yuri Higgins over the wall in left-center field for his eighth home run of the season, pushing the score to 5-1.
Tech’s seven-run ninth inning was highlighted by a three-run home run by Patrick Long and an RBI double by Tony Plagman while the Jackets recorded nine hits in the frame.
Crancer, Murton and Garofalo all had three hits in the game, while Murton drove in a game-high four runs.
Burns held USF to just one unearned run on two hits while striking out six in 6.1 innings of work, but did not figure into the decision after leaving in the seventh inning. Jared Hyatt (8-0) earned his eighth win of the season by throwing 1.2 innings in relief. He gave up just one hit while striking out one and walking two before yielding to Robinson, who tossed the final inning of the game.
The Bulls broke a scoreless game in the bottom of the sixth inning when Addison Maruszak reached and advanced to second on a throwing error by Garofalo, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Charles Cleveland and scored on Brandin Daniel’s sacrifice fly.
The Jackets and Bulls will wrap up the three-game series Monday afternoon at Red McEwen Field. First pitch is scheduled for 12 noon, and the game can be heard on WREK-Radio (91.1 FM/www.wrek.org) while live stats are available at www.ramblinwreck.com.
**NOTE: Georgia Tech junior shortstop Michael Fisher had his streak of 113-consecutive game appearances snapped Sunday after being hit in the face by a ground ball in the ninth inning of Saturday night’s game. The only Tech player with a longer current games-played streak is junior catcher Matt Wieters, who has played in 156-straight contests.**
