April 19, 2017
ATLANTA, Ga. – Redshirt-junior Ben Schniederjans allowed just three hits and five total base runners over seven innings on the mound, while the Yellow Jackets offense broke through in a big way in the late innings with a grand slam by Joey Bart in the seventh and both an RBI single from Trevor Craport and a two-run home run off the bat of Coleman Poje in the ninth to propel Georgia Tech to a 7-0 win over Georgia State on Wednesday night at the GSU Baseball Complex.
The win is the ninth straight for Tech over Georgia State and pushes the Jackets to 5-1 overall versus their in-state rivals on the season.
It was the Jackets’ second shutout win on the year.
Bart was 1-for-4 with a grand slam, a walk and four RBIs at the plate. His grand slam in the seventh was his team-high 12th home run of the season, while Poje went 2-for-5 with a home run, two RBIs and a run scored.
Junior infielder Wade Bailey was 1-for-2 with two walks and two runs scored, while Trevor Craport went 1-for 3 with a single, an RBI and a run scored. Senior outfielder Ryan Peurifoy was 1-for-3 with a double, a walk and a run scored, while Austin Wilhite went 1-for-4 with a double.
Schniederjans (2-3) recorded the win, as he threw 7.0 scoreless innings, surrendering just three hits, while striking out four and walking none on the night.
Out of the bullpen, Keyton Gibson and Micah Carpenter each pitched a 1-2-3 three inning and combined for three strikeouts over the final two innings in the road win.
After stranding seven runners on base over the first six innings, the Jackets offense broke through in a grand way in the top of the seventh, as Peurifoy and Bailey drew walks, before Craport was hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out for Bart. The sophomore catcher blasted a grand slam over the left field wall to put the visitors in front at 4-0 with one swing of the bat.
It was all Schniederjans over the first seven innings of play, as the righty pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the first, third and fifth innings. He gave up a hit in the second, hit a batter in the fourth, allowed a single in the sixth and had two runners reach on base via an error and a hit in the seventh, yet never allowed a runner to past second on the night.
Tech added some insurance runs in the ninth, as Bailey drew a lead-off walk, advanced all the way to third on an errant throw by the pitcher on a pick-off attempt and then scored on a single to center by Craport. Three batters later, Poje hit a shot over the left field wall for a two-run home run to push the Jackets lead out to 7-0.
Georgia State starter Bryan White threw 5.0 scoreless innings, giving up just three hits, walking three and striking out four, while offensively the Panthers’ Romero Greer went 2-for-3 and Brandon Gonzalez was 1-for-3 on the night.
The Jackets (18-18, 4-14 ACC) jump back into ACC play this weekend, as Tech will take on Virginia Tech (19-20, 7-11 ACC) on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Blacksburg, Va. in a key Coastal Division showdown.
Tech Tidbits
* Georgia Tech has now won nine straight over the Georgia State Panthers.
* The Jackets are now 7-2 in midweek games this season.
* Georgia Tech is now 5-1 versus in-state foes Georgia Southern (1-0), Georgia State (2-0), Mercer (2-0) and Georgia (0-1) on the season.
* With the four-run seventh inning, the Jackets are now 12-3 on the season when recording a big inning (four runs or more) in a game.
* Ben Schniederjans went a career-long 7.0 innings and threw a career-high 85 pitches in the win.
* Joey Bart’s grand slam in the seventh inning ended the Yellow Jackets home run drought at eight straight games, their longest drought of the season.
* Kel Johnson has now reached base safely in a season-high 16 straight contests with a walk in the fourth.
* Joey Bart extended his current hitting streak to four straight games with his grand slam in the seventh.
* Ryan Peurifoy continued his hitting streak, pushing it out to four straight games with a double to start the fifth.
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