May 12, 2002
ATLANTA – Jason Perry homered twice and drove in six runs and Jeremy Slayden added four RBI as ninth-ranked Georgia Tech (41-11) defeated visiting Miami (25-25), 16-8, on Sunday afternoon at Russ Chandler Stadium. The victory gave the Yellow Jackets a 2-1 edge in the three-game series with the Hurricanes.
Perry went 3-for-4 while tying his career-high with six RBI. He hit a three-run home run in the first inning and added a two-run shot in the seventh, raising his total to 11 home runs for the season. Fifth-year senior Matthew Boggs added a solo homer in the seventh, his first in 712 career at bats at the collegiate level.
With the score knotted at 5-5 after three innings, the Hurricanes took a 6-5 lead in the top of the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly Javy Rodriguez. The Yellow Jackets immediately answered in the bottom of that inning, scoring three times to take a 8-6 lead. With the bases loaded and only one out, Brandon Boggs scored on a walk to Slayden, Eric Patterson scored on a wild pitch, and Victor Menocal came around on Matt Murton’s sacrifice fly.
Miami scored once in the sixth to climb within 8-7, but Tech answered in the bottom of the inning with a RBI single from Slayden to push the lead back to two runs at 9-7.
After the Hurricanes scratched to 9-8 in the top of the seventh with a two-out RBI single from Brad Safchik, the Yellow Jackets scored seven times in the bottom of the seventh inning to break the game open. The inning was highlighted by Perry’s two-run homer and a two-run double from Slayden.
Tech’s Jeff Watchko (8-1) earned the win in relief, holding the Hurricanes to two earned runs in 4.1 innings of work after starter Chris Goodman was removed after just 2.2 innings. Menocal worked a scoreless eighth inning for the Yellow Jackets.
Perry, Slayden and Patterson each had three hits in the game, while Murton, Brandon Boggs and Matthew Boggs added two hits apiece.
Miami reliever Brandon Camardese (0-3) took the loss, allowing three runs in 0.2 innings. Danny Figueroa went 4-for-5 in the loss, while Danny Matienzo hit his team-leading 13th home run and drove in three runs.
The game was called after eight innings due to travel considerations, as the teams agreed to not start an inning after 4:45 p.m.
Georgia Tech will next host Georgia on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Russ Chandler Stadium. The game will be televised live by Fox Sports Net South and carried live 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.
