March 27, 2005
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Matt Wieters hit a go-ahead two-run home run in the top of the ninth inning and then recorded the final three outs in the bottom of the inning to earn the save as No. 4 Georgia Tech (21-4, 11-1 ACC) defeated No. 6 Miami (22-7, 8-4 ACC), 11-10, on Sunday afternoon at Mark Light Field.
The Yellow Jackets won two of three games from the Hurricanes as Tech won it’s 11th consecutive ACC series.
Head coach Danny Hall set a new Georgia Tech record with his 505th victory at the school. Hall, who is 505-215 in 12 years at Tech, passed current Miami head coach Jim Morris, who went 504-244-1 as the Yellow Jackets’ skipper from 1982-93.
The Yellow Jackets remained in first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings, just ahead of Florida State (5-1) and Clemson (5-1). The Hurricanes dropped to fifth place behind North Carolina (5-2).
Trailing 9-7 after eight and a half innings, the Yellow Jackets erupted for four runs in the top of the ninth inning to take a 11-9 lead. Steven Blackwood worked a walk to lead off the inning and Jeremy Slayden was hit by a pitch with one out before Jeff Kindel tied the game with a two-run double into the left center field gap. Matt Wieters gave the Yellow Jackets a two-run lead with a two-run homer just inside the right field foul pole on a 3-2 pitch.
Miami rallied in the bottom of the ninth inning, closing the deficit to one run and putting the tying runner on base. Roger Tomas led off the inning with a double and scored on Walter Diaz’s one-out RBI single. But Wieters retired the next two hitters on fly balls to preserve the 11-10 victory.
Tim Ladd (1-0) earned the win in relief, while Wieters was credited with his second save of the year.
Danny Gil (1-2) was charged with the loss.
Jeremy Slayden led the Tech offense with a 3-for-4 performance, including his team-leading eighth and ninth home runs of the year. Wieters went 3-for-5 with two RBI.
Miami took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a RBI groundout from Ryan Braun. Tech answered with a two-run homer from Jeremy Slayden to take a 2-1 lead in the second inning. A RBI single from Steven Blackwood extended the Tech lead to 3-1 in the third.
The Hurricanes tied the game in the bottom of the third inning, scoring on a solo home run from Alex Garabedian, his second of the year, and a wild play when Danny Figueroa scored from first base on a sacrifice bunt. Figueroa moved all the way to third base on the bunt play, and then broke for home when no Tech players covered the plate.
Tech took a 5-3 lead in the top of the fifth inning on Andy Hawranick’s third home run of the year and a RBI double from Blackwood. Miami answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning, including a inside the park, two-run homer from Roger Tomas and a RBI double from Ryan Braun, to take a 7-5 lead.
The bottom of the fifth inning also featured a controversial play that led to the Yellow Jackets filing a protest. With no outs and a runner on first base, Paco Figueroa hit a ground ball to third baseman Wes Hodges. Hodges attempted to put out baserunner Danny Figueroa at second base, and Figueroa came into second base without sliding, which is required under NCAA rules. Tech head coach Danny Hall argued that the baserunners should be ruled out, and Hall filed a protest after the initial ruling of safe was upheld.
A solo home run from Slayden, his second of the game and ninth of the year, pulled the Yellow Jackets to within 8-7 in the sixth inning.
Miami added two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning on a RBI single from Walter Diaz and a sacrifice fly from Danny Figueroa to extend the lead to 9-6. The Yellow Jackets closed to within 9-7 in the eighth when Matt Wieters doubled and scored on an error from Miami first baseman Danny Valencia.
Tech’s Tyler Greene went 0-for-5 to snap his career-long hitting streak at 18 games.
Georgia Tech returns to action on Tuesday when the Yellow Jackets host Western Carolina at Russ Chandler Stadium. First pitch is 7 p.m.
