TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (April 22) – Jason Basil had three hits and three RBI and Rhett Parrott pitched seven shutout innings to lead sixth-ranked Georgia Tech past second-ranked Florida State, 5-0, on Saturday night at Dick Howser Stadium.
The victory distanced the first-place Yellow Jackets (34-9, 14-3 ACC) from the second-place Seminoles (38-8, 10-4) in the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season standings and evened the three-game series at one win apiece.
Parrott (6-2) picked up his third consecutive victory while surrendering just four hits to the Seminole offense. The right-hander issued three walks and struck out five batters. Spanning his last three starts, Parrott has allowed just one earned run in 20 innings.
Tech freshman Jeff Watchko tossed two shutout innings to close out the game.
The Yellow Jackets took a 3-0 lead in the top of the third inning. Richard Lewis led off the frame with a double, and after Brad Stockton flew out, Mark Teixeira took first on an intentional walk. Bryan Prince drove in both runners with a two-run double to left field and then came around to score on a RBI single from Basil.
Tech pushed the lead to 4-0 with a single run in the fifth. Teixeira reached on a fielder’s choice, took third on a single from Derik Goffena, and scored on another RBI single from Basil.
Georgia Tech added an insurance run in the top of the seventh to make the score 5-0. Teixeira singled and scored on Basil’s third RBI single of the game.
The Yellow Jackets pounded out 14 hits in the game, led by 3-for-5 performances from both Basil and Victor Menocal. Prince and Stockton each added two hits in the game, while Goffena extended his hitting streak to a career-long 20 games.
FSU starter Blair Varnes (7-2) took the loss, allowing four runs on nine hits in six innings of work.
Florida State lost for just the second time in 29 games at home, and the Seminoles suffered their first shutout at home since the 1994 season. The victory was Georgia Tech’s first road shutout since a 9-0 win at Georgia in 1997.
Georgia Tech and Florida State will conclude the three game series on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Dick Howser Stadium. The contest will be televised in the Atlanta area on Media One Cable Channel 33 and in Florida markets on the Sunshine Network.
