May 18, 2007
ATLANTA – Jason Stidham’s two-run double highlighted a six-run first inning, and Matt Fairel worked 4.1 scoreless innings in relief as No. 3 Florida State (45-9, 23-6 ACC) stopped Georgia Tech (31-22, 15-13 ACC), 10-2, Friday night at Russ Chandler Stadium.
With the victory, the Seminoles won their first series against the Jackets since taking two of three in Atlanta in 2003.
The Seminoles’ first inning included RBI doubles by Stidham and Mark Hallberg, RBI singles by Buster Posey and Mark Gildea, and a trio of Yellow Jacket errors to put the visitors up early, 6-0. Florida State then added a run in the second inning on a double steal to push the score to 7-0.
After Tech scored two runs in the bottom of the second on Tony Plagman’s two-run double, Florida State starter Michael Hyde and relievers Fairel and Brian Chambers combined to hold Tech to just six hits and no runs over the next 7.2 innings.
Plagman went 2-for-3 and Patrick Long added two hits to pace the Jackets offense. Hallberg, Posey, Stidham and Jack Rye all posted two hits for the Seminoles.
Fairel (1-0) earned his first win of the season by giving up just four hits while striking out five before Chambers closed out the game by tossing the final two innings.
David Duncan (6-4) took his second-straight loss, giving up eight runs on eight hits in 4.1 innings of work.
An RBI double by Brandon Reichert extended the Seminoles’ lead to 8-2 in the fifth inning before Rye’s two-run home run in the sixth inning provided the final eight-run margin.
The Jackets and Seminoles will wrap up the series Saturday at 4 p.m. in a game that will be broadcast on CSS. Fans may listen to the game on WREK-Radio (91.1 FM in Atlanta / www.wrek.org) while live stats are available at www.ramblinwreck.com.
