April 3, 2004
ATLANTA – Ryan Braun drove in four runs and Brian Barton added three RBI to lead Miami (23-6) to a 9-7 win over Georgia Tech (17-12) Saturday afternoon at Russ Chandler Stadium. The Hurricanes used a five-run seventh inning to take the game from the Yellow Jackets.
Danny Gil (4-0) earned the win in relief, working 2.2 innings and allowing just one run on one hit while striking out four Tech batters.
Clifton Remole led Georgia Tech with three hits on the afternoon, while Wes Hodges and Mike Nickeas added two apiece.
The Jackets took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI single from Micah Owings. Eric Patterson led off the inning with a walk, moved to second on a balk by Miami starter Cesar Carillo, advanced to third on a groundout by Brandon Boggs and scored on Owings’ single to left field. Georgia Tech added a pair of unearned runs in the third inning, making the score 3-0, on a sacrifice fly by Steven Blackwood and an RBI single from Nickeas.
The Hurricanes scored an unearned run in the top of the fourth inning when Adam Ricks earned a two-out walk, moved to second on a walk to Jim Burt, and scored on a fielding error by Tech shortstop Tyler Greene.
Georgia Tech posted three runs in the fifth inning to take a 6-1 lead in the game. Blackwood led off the inning with a double, moved to third on a single by Nickeas and scored on a sacrifice fly by Remole. Nickeas came around to score from first base on a double by Greene down the left field line, and Whit Robbins then drove in Greene with an RBI single to right field to cap the scoring for the Jackets in the inning.
Miami cut the lead to 6-4 in the sixth inning on an RBI double from Barton and a two-run home run by Braun.
After the Jackets scored a run in the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly by Greene, Miami took a 9-7 lead with five runs in the seventh inning. Joey Hooft, Paco Figueroa and Jon Jay had three consecutive singles to lead off the inning, loading the bases for Adam Ricks, who earned a walk from Jackets reliever John Goodman to score Hooft. Barton then plated Figueroa and Jay with a single to left field and Braun drove in Ricks and Barton with a double to right center field to round out the scoring for the Hurricanes.
John Goodman (3-1) took the loss for the Jackets, giving up four runs on three hits in 0.1 innings. Starting pitcher Micah Owings pitched effectively, but did not figure into the decision. He retired the first 11 batters of the game, and did not allow a hit until the fifth inning. Owings gave up four runs on just three hits in 5.2 innings of work and struck out seven Miami batters.
The Jackets and Hurricanes will play the rubber-match of the three-game series with a 1 p.m. start tomorrow. Andrew Kown (4-1), previously scheduled to start the second game of the series, will get the start in the series finale and is scheduled to face Miami’s Brandon Camardese (3-0) in a game that will be aired on WREK-Radio (91.1 FM in Atlanta) and on the internet at www.wrek.org. Live statistics will be available at www.ramblinwreck.com.
