April 18, 2004
ATLANTA – Ben Johnson and Matt Lane both homered during an eight run second inning to lead Washington (21-13-1) to a 16-2 win over Georgia Tech (21-17) on Sunday afternoon at Russ Chandler Stadium. The Huskies won two of three games during the weekend series.
Tim Lincecum (4-1) backed up the Huskies’ offensive attack with a dominant pitching performance, holding the Yellow Jackets hitless before allowing a sixth-inning leadoff single to Eric Patterson. The freshman worked six shutout innings, allowing just the one hit and three walks while striking out nine. Lincecum and relievers Trent Baysinger and Richie Lentz combined on a five-hitter.
Washington exploded for eight runs off Tech starter Brian Burks in the second inning. Lane led off the inning with a solo home run, his third of the year, before the Huskies loaded the bases with one out on an error, single and walk. A three-run double from Nick Batkoski cleared the bases, Zach Clem followed with a RBI single, and Johnson capped the inning with a three-run homer, his fifth of the season.
Batkoski, who went 2-for-5 with six RBI, added a three-run homer, his first of the season, to make the score 11-0 in the top of the third. Lane paced the Washington offense with a 3-for-5 performance, while Clem and Greg Isaacson added two hits apiece.
The Huskies scored five more runs in the top of the eighth on just one hit, seven walks and a hit batter to make the score 16-0.
Tech broke up the shutout in the bottom of the eighth when Tyler Greene led off the inning with a single and scored on Brandon Boggs’ RBI double. A solo home run in the ninth from Mike Nickeas, his fifth of the year, provided the final 16-2 margin. Steven Blackwood went 1-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to a career-long 14 games.
Burks (2-5), one of eight Tech pitchers in the game, took the loss after allowing eight runs in 1.1 innings.
Tech’s 14-run loss was its worst since an 18-4 decision at Florida State in 1999, while the Yellow Jackets’ 11 walks were a season-high.
Georgia Tech will host Winthrop on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Russ Chandler Stadium before traveling to Florida State for a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series next weekend.
