April 13, 2013
THE FLATS – Junior Daniel Palka launched his ninth home run of the season, but No. 19 Georgia Tech was limited to just four hits and was defeated by No. 5 Virginia, 7-2, Saturday afternoon at Russ Chandler Stadium.
Scott Silverstein turned in a seven-inning gem for the Cavaliers, who evened the pivotal ACC series with the Yellow Jackets. Virginia improved to 31-5 overall and 13-4 in the ACC, while Tech slipped to 25-10, 10-7.
The rubber game is set for Sunday at 1 p.m. on CSS and ESPN3.
Palka finished 2-for-4, smashing his ninth home this season and the 33rd of his career in the seventh inning to snap Silverstein’s shutout bid. He lined an RBI single up the middle in the ninth. Palka’s homer was Tech’s first since March 30th versus Wake Forest.
Tech threatened in the first as Kyle Wren led the inning off with a high chopper over the head of first baseman Jared King that he legged into a double. But the Jackets left him stranded and Silverstein was in control from there.
“We had a chance in the first inning after the lead-off double,” said head coach Danny Hall. “After beating them last night, we needed to score right there. But he (Silverstein) pitched out of it, and Virginia came back and scored two in the second and it was downhill from there.”
The lefty, who was touched up in last year’s 17-6 win by the Yellow Jackets in the ACC Tournament, allowed just two hits and two walks with nine strikeouts in seven innings to pick up his sixth win (6-0). After intentionally walking Zane Evans in the first inning, he retired 17 of the next 18 Jackets he faced before Palka’s solo shot in the seventh inning.
Junior Dusty Isaacs was tagged for seven hits and five runs in four innings and was dealt the loss (4-3). Seven Jacket relievers pitched behind him and limited the Cavaliers to four hits and two runs over the next nine innings.
Derek Fisher, who finished 3-for-5, put the visitors on the board in the second inning with an RBI double and Reed Gragnani’s sac fly made it 2-0. Fisher’s RBI single made it 4-0 in the third and Gragnani’s homer in the fourth put UVa up 5-0.
Gragnani was 3-for-4 and added an RBI single in the eighth inning.
