March 11, 2016
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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The ninth-ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets suffered their first loss of the season Friday night with an 8-2 setback at No. 11 Florida State.
Georgia Tech (12-1, 0-1 ACC), which entered the night as the nation’s lone undefeated Division I team, surrendered four Seminoles (11-3, 1-0 ACC) home runs. Tech is now 15-8 in the first game of an ACC opening series under head coach Danny Hall, while the Jackets have lost seven straight ACC road games.
Because of impending inclement weather, game 2 of the series has been moved up to 2 p.m. Saturday.
THE LINEUPS
Georgia Tech – Wade Bailey 2B, Connor Justus SS, Matt Gonzalez LF, Kel Johnson RF, Brandon Gold P, Trevor Craport 3B, Tristin English 1B, Arden Pabst C, Carter Hall CF
Florida State – Taylor Walls SS, John Sansone 3B, Quincy Nieporte DH, Cal Raleigh C, Gage West LF, Dylan Busby 1B, Darren Miller RF, Ben DeLuzio CF, Matt Henderson 2B, Mike Compton P
THE BASICS
• Georgia Tech suffered its first loss of the season.
• Georgia Tech snapped its 12-game winning streak, which was its longest since March 2011 (16 games).
• The Yellow Jackets have now lost seven straight ACC road games (last ACC road win was April 5, 2015, at Virginia Tech).
• Tech is 15-8 in the first game of an ACC opening series under head coach Danny Hall.
• Tech is now 298-101 all-time in the month of March under Danny Hall.
• Florida State leads the all-time series 71-45, including a 37-16 mark in Tallahassee.
• Danny Hall is 35-38 all-time vs. Florida State.
• Georgia Tech leads the nation with 28 double plays turned. Middle infielders Wade Bailey (2B) and Connor Justus (SS) have been a part of 15 of the 28 double plays.
• Georgia Tech has now used 13 different lineups to start the 2016 season. Only 2B Wade Bailey and SS Connor Justus have started every game at the same position.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Florida State opened the scoring in the 1st to take a 1-0 lead. Taylor Walls led off with a double to right-center. Walls advanced to third on John Sansone’s groundout but scored on the play after Tristin English’s errant throw to third base.
• Georgia Tech tied it up at 1-1 in the 2nd thanks to Brandon Gold’s one-out solo shot to right-center.
• The Seminoles scored five runs in the 3rd to take a 6-1 lead. With one out, Quincy Nieporte reached base and advanced to second on Trevor Craport’s throwing error to first. After Cal Raleigh walked, Gage West followed with a single to center to load the bases. Dylan Busby drove in the go-ahead run on an RBI groundout to first. Darren Miller cleared the bases with a 3-run home run over the scoreboard in left. Matt Henderson followed with a solo shot to left-center for the 6-1 lead.
• Tech added a run in the 5th thanks to a Kel Johnson double to right field. Johnson’s RBI double scored Connor Justus for a 6-2 deficit.
• FSU added leadoff solo home runs in both the 5th (Cal Raleigh) and 7th (Sansone) innings.
QUOTE BOARD
“We got beat in all phases of the game. I felt like there were a few times where we didn’t make plays when we needed to make them. We had some chances to carve into the lead, but we couldn’t get a hit. Tip your cap (to Florida State). They were by far better than us tonight. Now we have to bounce back and get ready for tomorrow.” – Georgia Tech head coach Danny Hall on the Yellow Jackets’ first loss
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Wade Bailey extended his career-best hit streak to 13 games.
• Friday was the time this season the Yellow Jackets went without a designated hitter in the lineup as pitcher Brandon Gold hit in the 5 spot.
• Gold hit a solo homer run in the 2nd inning, his second homer of the season and fourth of his career.
• Freshman Tristin English recorded a career-high three hits, going 3-for-3.
UP NEXT
Game two of the ACC opening-weekend series will begin at 2 p.m. Saturday. The game was moved up four hours from its original 6 p.m. start. Fans can watch the game on ESPN3 or listen on WREK 91.1 FM.
For the latest information on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, follow us on Twitter (@GTBaseball), Facebook (facebook.com/GTbaseball) or visit us at www.ramblinwreck.com.
