April 19, 2002
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Stephen Drew homered and drove in three runs to lead eighth-ranked Florida State (36-12, 4-6 ACC) to a 4-3 win over fifth-ranked Georgia Tech (32-6, 8-4) on Friday night at Dick Howser Stadium in the opener of a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series.
Florida State starter Matt Lynch (8-1) earned the victory after scattering nine hits over six innings and holding the Yellow Jackets to one earned run. Daniel Hodges earned his fifth save of the season by working the final three innings and allowing just one run.
Tech starter Kyle Bakker (9-1) suffered his first loss of the year despite a solid effort. Bakker went the distance for the second consecutive start and allowed four runs on nine hits in eight innings.
The Yellow Jackets outhit the Seminoles, 15-9, but failed to capitalize on numerous scoring opportunities and left 12 runners on base, including 10 in scoring position. Florida State, meanwhile, scored all four of its runs with two-out hits.
The Yellow Jackets jumped to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Eric Patterson singled to lead off the game, moved to second on a walk issued to Jeremy Slayden, and scored on an error by Seminole shortstop Stephen Drew. Tech then extended its lead to 2-0 in the third inning when Slayden homered to right field, his team-leading 12th of the season.
Blair McCaleb led off the fourth inning with a double for Florida State and later scored on a RBI single by Mike Futrell to make the score 2-1. The Seminoles took a 3-2 lead in the fifth inning on a two-out, two-run home run by Drew, and then extended their lead to 4-2 in the seventh inning when Drew drove in Tony Richie on a RBI single up the middle.
Georgia Tech added a run in the top of the eighth inning to conclude the scoring at 4-3 after Matthew Boggs singled to lead off the inning, moved to second on a single by Wes Rynders, and later scored on a RBI single by Patterson.
The Yellow Jackets had an opportunity to tie the score in the top of the ninth inning. Slayden led off the inning with a single between the first and second baseman, but was thrown out while trying to advance after FSU second baseman Scott Toole made a wild throw past first baseman Jeff Probst. Tech had another opportunity when Jason Perry hit a two-out double off the right field wall, but Hodges struck out Brandon Boggs to end the game.
The loss was Georgia Tech’s first in 27 games when allowing five runs or less.
Georgia Tech and Florida State will continue with the second game of the series on Saturday at 1 p.m. The game will be televised live on Sunshine, Fox Sports Net South, and Comcast SportsNet. Live radio broadcasts for the game can be heard on WREK-Radio (91.1 FM in Atlanta) and on the internet at www.ramblinwreck.com. Live scoring for the game will be available at www.ramblinwreck.com.
