Feb. 28, 2009
ATLANTA – Tony Plagman, Jason Haniger and Jay Dantzler drove in three runs apiece, and Zach Von Tersch stymied the Scarlet Knights bats for six innings to lead No. 8 Georgia Tech (6-1) past Rutgers, 13-4, in the second game of a doubleheader Saturday at Russ Chandler Stadium.
Earlier in the afternoon, the Yellow Jackets knocked off the Scarlet Knights, 6-4, behind the arm of right-handed pitcher Deck McGuire and home runs from Plagman and freshman third baseman Matt Skole.
“Deck was again in command the whole way,” head coach Danny Hall said. “And then Von Tersch, other than the one inning, threw the ball very well. I was very pleased with both starters.”
With the pair of losses, Rutgers fell to 1-5 on the year.
After a sacrifice fly and RBI single gave Rutgers a 2-0 lead in the second inning, Plagman hit his second home run of the day over the center field wall to narrow the Scarlet Knights’ edge to one run. The Yellow Jacket first baseman finished the game with three hits, all of which drove in runs.
“It was just a matter of time with Tony,” Hall added. “He began swinging the bat better as the week went on, and I was glad to see him get rewarded. He had a great day.”
Over the next two innings, the Jackets scored eight runs on eight hits, including a two-run double by Dantzler and a two-run homer from Haniger, to take a commanding 9-2 lead in the game. Dantzler fell a triple shy of hitting for the cycle, going 3-for-6 with a single, double and a home run while driving in three and scoring three.
“Jay is an up-and-comer, and has certainly had to wait for his turn,” Hall said. “He is a very good player, and had a very good day.”
Haniger, Jeff Rowland and Luke Murton all added two hits apiece.
The Jackets tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning with a two-run single from Derek Dietrich and an RBI single by Connor Winn, the first of his career. Dantzler’s solo home run capped the scoring at 13-4 in the bottom of the seventh.
Von Tersch (2-0) struck out a career-high nine batters and allowed just six hits through six-plus innings to pick up his second win of the season. The junior right-hander ran into problems in the seventh after allowing the first three batters of the inning reach base, but freshman reliever Jake Davies came on to retire three of the four batters he faced in the frame to work out of the jam.
Davies threw two shutout innings before Jacob Esch worked a 1-2-3 ninth to close out the game. Esch retired two of the three batters he faced by strikeout, and the Yellow Jacket pitching staff struck out a total of 14 batters in the game.
The series finale will begin Sunday at 1 p.m., with Brandon Cumpton (0-0, 1.50 ERA) slated to take the mound for the Yellow Jackets while the Scarlet Knights counter with right-hander Charlie Law (0-0, 4.50). The game can be heard on the WREK-HD2 Radio channel (www.wrek.org), while live stats will be available at Ramblinwreck.com.
–Ramblinwreck.com–
