April 17, 2009
Box Score
Scroll down for video highlights and postgame interview!
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Deck McGuire held the Demon Deacons to two runs and Tony Plagman led the Yellow Jacket offense with five hits – all for extra bases – as No. 10 Georgia Tech (24-8-1, 10-5-1 ACC) handed Wake Forest (20-17, 6-13 ACC) a 13-2 loss Friday night at Gene Hooks Field at Wake Forest Baseball Park.
“When you win on Fridays in the ACC, it gives you a chance to do well the next two days, so this (win) is a big lift for our team,” head coach Danny Hall said.
McGuire (6-0) earned his sixth win of the season by limiting Wake Forest to just four hits and two walks in his seven innings of work. He also struck out nine to raise his 2009 total to 75 K’s this season.
“Deck was outstanding,” Hall said. “(In) the one inning that they made a little charge, he made some big pitches to keep it to two runs. It could have easily been three or four runs, but he made big pitches when he needed to.”
Plagman provided the spark on offense with a career night at the plate, going 5-for-6 with two home runs and a career-high three doubles against the Wake Forest pitching staff. His five hits, two home runs and three runs scored tied career marks that he set last season, while his five RBI and 14 total bases surpassed his previous career highs, both of which were set in 2008.
“Tony was awesome tonight,” Hall said. “To go 5-for-5 is great, and especially with two homers and three doubles. I was sad to see him make an out in the ninth, but I wanted to give him a chance to go 6-for-6. He was close, but he had a great night.”
The top four batters in Tech’s lineup – Jeff Rowland, Derek Dietrich, Jason Haniger and Plagman – combined for 14 of the Yellow Jackets’ 19 hits on the night. Rowland went 4-for-6 with two runs scored, while Haniger tallied three hits, three runs and an RBI.
Plagman gave the Yellow Jackets a 2-0 edge in the first inning when he followed Haniger’s first double of the game with his ninth home run of the season. The Yellow Jacket first baseman belted his 10th homer of the year – and second of the game – in the fourth inning to push Tech’s lead to 3-0.
Rowland led off the fifth inning with a double and came around to score on Haniger’s second double of the day. Plagman then followed with a double of his own to move Haniger to third before the Tech backstop tagged up on a sacrifice fly by Matt Skole to make the score 6-0 in the Jackets’ favor.
Twelve of Tech’s 19 hits went for extra bases – eight doubles and four that left the yard.
McGuire cruised through the first five innings, facing two over the minimum while allowing just one hit and two walks to the Demon Deacon batters. Wake Forest didn’t record its second hit until the sixth, when Steven Brooks reached on a one-out double. The Demon Deacon center fielder eventually scored on a throwing error by Skole and Wake plated another run on a balk, but McGuire worked out of the jam by striking out the next two batters to end the inning.
Andrew Robinson tossed a perfect eighth inning, and Taylor Wood worked a scoreless ninth.
The Jackets scored eight runs over the final three innings for the final 11-run margin. Haniger scored on a wild pitch one pitch before Murton belted a two-run home run in the seventh inning, and Tech plated two more in the eighth with an RBI single by Dietrich and a run-scoring double from Plagman. Tech’s final three runs came in the ninth, beginning with a solo home run by Skole and ending with a sacrifice fly from pinch hitter Brandon Miller.
Wake Forest starter Garrett Bullock (1-1) lasted just 4-2/3 innings after giving up five runs on 10 hits to the Yellow Jackets.
The Jackets and Deacs continue the series at 6 p.m. Saturday. Fans can listen to the game on WREK Radio (91.1 FM in Atlanta/www.wrek.org), while live stats will be available at Ramblinwreck.com.
–Ramblinwreck.com.–
