March 11, 2005
ATLANTA – Tyler Greene’s seventh inning inside the park grand slam broke open a 9-5 game and lifted No. 8 Georgia Tech (14-2, 4-0 ACC) to a 15-5 win over Wake Forest (9-8, 3-1) on Friday afternoon in the opener of a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series.
The Yellow Jackets won their school-record 20th straight ACC contest dating back to the 2004 season. Tech’s 20-straight league wins ranks as the third longest streak in ACC history, one win short of the conference record held by Clemson (1987-88) and North Carolina (1963-65).
Jason Neighborgall (4-0) won his fourth consecutive start, working six innings and allowing one earned run. The right-hander held the Demon Deacons to three hits and issued five walks while striking out six.
Tech continued its offensive tear, scoring in double figures for the sixth straight game. The Jackets have scored 90 runs in their last six games.
Holding a 7-5 lead, the Yellow Jackets erupted for six runs in the bottom of the seventh. Wes Hodges led off the inning with his team-leading seventh home run and Mike Trapani had a RBI single before Tech loaded the bases with two outs for Greene.
Greene lined a 2-2 pitch into the left field corner, and Wake Forest left fielder Brett Linnenkohl signaled that the ball became lodged under the outfield fence. Greene continued to run and scored on the play after third base umpire Frank Sylvester examined the ball and ruled that it was not lodged under the fence.
Greene went 2-for-5 with five RBI, giving him nine RBI in the last two games. Matt Wieters went 3-for-4, making him 15-for-18 in four ACC games in 2005. Danny Payne, Wes Hodges, Whit Robbins, Andy Hawranick and Mike Trapani added two hits each.
Tech jumped to a 5-0 lead through the first three innings, scoring four runs in the first and adding another run in the third. After loading the bases with one out in the first inning on a single and two walks, Jeff Kindel had a sacrifice fly and Wieters and Robbins followed with back-to-back doubles. Wieters hit a solo home run, his second of the year, in the third inning.
The Demon Deacons and Yellow Jackets traded single runs in the fifth and sixth innings. Wake Forest scored on a sacrifice fly from Ben Ingold in the fifth and a RBI groundout from Andy Goff in the sixth. Tech scored on RBI groundouts from Kindel in the fifth and Tyler Greene in the sixth.
Wake Forest scored three runs in the seventh off Wieters, who relieved Neighborgall after six innings, to pull within 7-5. Ryder Mathias had a RBI single and Ingold and Brendan Enick had sac flies.
After the six-run seventh inning made the score 13-5, Tech added two runs in the ninth on RBI doubles from Robbins and Hawranick to provide the final 15-5 margin.
Wake Forest starter Tim Morley dropped to 0-3, allowing six runs on seven hits in 4.2 innings.
Georgia Tech and Wake Forest will continue the series on Saturday and Sunday at 1:30 p.m. each day.
