Feb. 24, 2008
ATLANTA – Starter Zach Von Tersch and a trio of relievers held Youngstown State (0-3) to one run on five hits and Charlie Blackmon drove in the go-ahead run in the bottom of a four-run eighth inning as No. 25 Georgia Tech (3-0) completed a three-game sweep of the Penguins with a 5-1 win Sunday afternoon at Russ Chandler Stadium.
Von Tersch held Youngstown State to one run on four hits in six innings of work. He struck out five on the afternoon while issuing just one walk. Andrew Robinson, Brad Rulon and Chris Hicks all worked scoreless innings in relief to secure the sweep for the Yellow Jackets.
The one run marks the fewest given up in a three-game series by the Yellow Jackets in nearly 99 years, since outscoring Sewanee 21-1 in a three-game series May 14-15, 1909. It marks the only time in school history the Jackets have held an opponent to just one run in three nine-inning games, as two of Tech’s contests against Sewanee were seven-inning games.
Youngstown State snapped a streak of 19.2 scoreless innings for the Yellow Jacket pitchers when Eric Marzec singled to lead off the second inning, moved to third on a single by Dustin Wachter and scored on an RBI single by Sean Lucas.
Tech answered with a run in the bottom of the frame to tie the game at 1-1 when Tony Plagman sent the first pitch he saw over the right field wall for his first home run of the season.
The score remained tied until Georgia Tech plated four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Freshman Chase Burnette singled to lead off the frame, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Chris House, advanced to third on a single by Derek Dietrich and scored on Blackmon’s fielder’s choice. Luke Murton then hit a two-out single through the right side to move Blackmon to second and the two scored on Curtis Dupart’s pinch-hit double down the right field line. Dupart came around to score on Patrick Long’s RBI single for the final run of the game.
Murton and Thomas Nichols led Tech with two hits apiece while Lucas paced the Penguins with a 2-for-3 performance at the plate.
Ryan Sellman (0-1) took the loss for Youngstown State, giving up two runs on two hits in 0.1 innings of work. Rulon (1-0) picked up the win by tossing a perfect eighth inning.
The Yellow Jackets will continue their season-opening 13-game homestand by hosting Georgia Southern for a pair of midweek games beginning Tuesday at 4 p.m. Live stats for both contests will be available at Ramblinwreck.com.
