April 5, 2005
AUBURN, Ala. – Tim Gustafson and Matt Wieters combined on 3 2/3 innings of one-hit relief and Steven Blackwood drove in two runs as No. 3 Georgia Tech (24-6) held off No. 16 Auburn (21-11), 3-2, on Tuesday night at Plainsman Park.
The Yellow Jackets and Tigers split the two-game regular season series, with each school winning on the opponents’ home field.
Starter Ryan Turner improved to 3-1, working 5.1 innings and allowing two runs on six hits. He issued three walks and struck out two batters before yielding to the bullpen duo of Gustafson and Wieters.
Gustafson worked 2.2 innings, holding the Tigers to just one hit and three baserunners. Wieters worked a perfect ninth inning to earn his third save of the season.
Each team had just seven hits in the game, and Tech and Auburn combined for just four hits over the final four innings of the game.
Reliever Grant Cardwell (1-2), one of six Auburn pitchers in the game, took the loss despite allowing just one run on two hits in three innings.
Danny Payne led off the game with a triple and scored on Blackwood’s RBI groundout to give the Yellow Jackets a 1-0 lead, but the Tigers answered with a two-out, two-run double from Jeff Boutwell in the bottom of the first inning. A bases loaded RBI groundout from Payne tied the game at 2-2 in the second inning.
Tech took a 3-2 lead in the top of the third on Blackwood’s second RBI groundout of the game. The Yellow Jackets had a chance to add to the lead in the fifth inning when they loaded the bases with one out. But Cardwell struck out Jeremy Slayden and Jeff Kindel to end the threat.
Auburn had a scoring opportunity in the bottom of the seventh inning when the Tigers put runners on first and second bases with no outs. But Tech reliever Tim Gustafson struck out Clete Thomas and got a double play ground ball from Josh Bell to escape the jam.
Georgia Tech returns to Atlanta to host Winthrop for a three-game series beginning on Friday at 7 p.m.
