April 6, 2003
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Micah Owings homered and drove in three runs and Eric Patterson added a three-run double as No. 8 Georgia Tech (24-6, 5-1 ACC) defeated North Carolina (22-11, 4-5 ACC), 12-4, on Sunday afternoon at Boshamer Stadium to give the Yellow Jackets a 2-1 victory in the three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series.
Tech starter Kyle Bakker (5-0) earned his first win in four starts dating back to March 7 after holding the Tar Heels to three runs on five hits in six innings of work. He issued one walk and struck out three batters. Jeff Watchko worked the final three innings of the game, allowing one earned run, to pick up his fifth save of the season.
Jeremy Slayden had a pair of doubles and scored two runs for the Yellow Jackets, while Clifton Remole, Brandon Boggs, Andy Hawranick and Tyler Greene added two hits apiece.
The Yellow Jackets took control of the game early, scoring five runs and chasing UNC starter Jonathan Hovis from the game in the top of the second inning. Tech loaded the bases with no outs before Owings plated Slayden with a sacrifice fly and Patterson later cleared the bases with a three-run double to the left center field wall. A RBI double from Boggs gave the Yellow Jackets a 6-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning.
The Tar Heels got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth with a solo home run from Chris Iannetta, his fifth of the season.
Three more runs in the top of the fifth inning gave Tech a 9-1 lead. Slayden doubled and scored on a wild pitch and Owings belted a two-run homer to right field, his team-leading 10th of the season.
Another Carolina solo home run, the second of the year from Mell Adams, made the score 9-2 in the bottom of the fifth inning. Chad Prosser doubled and scored on Sean Farrell’s RBI groundout to pull the Tar Heels within 9-3 in the sixth inning. An unearned run off a Tech error and a RBI double from Farrell in the bottom of the eighth inning made the score 9-4.
Tech scored three times in the top of the ninth inning, including a RBI single from Hawranick and a sacrifice fly from Boggs, to extend the lead to 12-4.
Hovis (1-1) took the loss, allowing five runs on two hits, two walks and a hit batter in 1.1 innings. The Tar Heels used eight different pitchers in the game.
Georgia Tech returns to action with a pair of midweek home games at Russ Chandler Stadium. The Yellow Jackets host Georgia State on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in a game that will be televised regionally on Comcast Sports Southeast. Tech hosts Savannah State on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Radio coverage for both games will be available on WREK-Radio (91.1 FM in Atlanta), while live statistics and the radio broadcast will be available on the internet at www.ramblinwreck.com.
