March 31, 2007
ATLANTA – First baseman Tony Plagman had career-high four hits and four RBI and Patrick Long added three hits and four RBI as Georgia Tech (18-11, 7-4 ACC) won its fifth-straight game, defeating Maryland (18-10, 5-6 ACC), 16-6, Saturday afternoon at Russ Chandler Stadium.
Georgia Tech scored at least one run in each of the first five innings, including a game-high five in the fifth, while 13 of the Yellow Jackets’ 16 runs came with two outs. Tech also set a season high with 18 hits against the Terrapins as eight of nine Georgia Tech starters collected a hit in the game.
Plagman went 4-for-5 with a pair of doubles, four RBI and three runs scored while Long was 3-for-4 with a triple, home run, two runs and four RBI.
Georgia Tech reliever Jared Hyatt (5-0) picked up his second win of the week, holding the Terps to just one hit and no runs while striking out two in 1.1 innings of work.
Tech scored two runs in the first inning on a pair of RBI singles by Wally Crancer and Plagman before taking a 3-0 lead in the second on an RBI single by Michael Fisher. Crancer finished the game with three hits, two runs and two RBI while Fisher went 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI.
After the Terps cracked the scoreboard with a run in the third inning, the Jackets added three runs in both the third and fourth innings to take an eight-run lead. A single by Chris House plated Tony Plagman and Jeff Ussery in the third before the Yellow Jacket left fielder scored the Jackets’ third run of the frame on a balk by Maryland reliever Brett Tidball. Plagman’s first double of the game came in the fourth inning, driving in Matt Wieters, who had reached earlier on a fielder’s choice. Plagman and Crancer then came around to score on Long’s second triple of the season.
After Maryland narrowed Tech’s lead to 9-4 by scoring four runs in the top of the fifth inning, the Jackets exploded for five runs in the bottom of the frame to put the game out of reach at 14-5. Crancer had an RBI single to account for Tech’s first run of the inning before Plagman hit his second double of the game down the right field line to drive in Crancer and Wieters. Long then drove in Plagman with a single and was caught stealing as Ussery scored the Jackets’ fifth run of the inning.
An RBI single by Dan Benick capped the scoring for Maryland in the seventh before Long homered and Luke Murton’s sacrifice fly plated Chris House for the final runs of the game in the eighth.
Maryland starter Ryan Moorer (3-1) took the loss, giving up six runs on nine hits in the first 2.2 innings of the game.
Georgia Tech and Maryland conclude the three-game series Sunday afternoon in a contest that can be followed on ACC Select (gatech.playonsports.tv), WREK-Radio (91.1 FM/www.wrek.org) and via live stats at www.ramblinwreck.com. First pitch is at 1 p.m., with a pair of lefties in Tech’s Ryan Turner (2-3, 3.89 ERA) and the Terps’ Kevin Biriniger (2-4, 4.65 ERA) squaring off against each other.
