Georgia Tech Defeats NC State Baseball, 9-6

Friday, May 16

Atlanta, Ga.

7:00 PM

NC State

38-14, 0

Georgia Tech

39-14, 0

NC State

Georgia Tech

5/16/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

May 16, 2003

Final Stats

ATLANTA, Ga. - Georgia Tech jumped to a big early lead, staved off an NC State rally, and went on to defeat the Wolfpack 9-6 on Friday in the second game of a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference baseball series at Chandler Stadium.

The 10th-ranked Yellow Jackets (39-14 overall and 17-6 in the conference) now have won the first two games of the three-game series and has wrapped up second place in the final ACC standings. The ninth-ranked Wolfpack, which dropped to 38-14 overall and 14-9 in the ACC, needs a win in the series or a Clemson loss on Saturday at Wake Forest, to clinch third place.

Tech starter Kyle Bakker (8-1) got the win after allowing six runs, four of them earned, on seven hits in five innings of work. He walked three and struck out five. Brian Burks picked up his seventh save with two innings of perfect relief. NC State starter Nate Cretarolo (4-3) got the loss after working 4-2/3 innings and allowing seven runs, six earned, on five hits. He walked six and struck out six. NC State pitching issued nine walks in the game, and five of them came around to score.

The Wolfpack jumped out to its first lead of the series in the top of the first inning when Justin Riley drove a 1-2 pitch to the opposite field and over the right-field fence, his 15th home run of the season, giving NC State a 1-0 lead.

The lead didn't last long. Cretarolo walked Eric Patterson, Steven Blackwood and Matt Murton to start the bottom of the first. Mike Nickeas hit a ground-rule double down the right-field line, driving in two runs and putting runners at second and third. Clifton Remole grounded to shortstop, and Chad Orvella threw to third base to retire Nickeas, but Murton scored the third run of the inning on the play. Micah Owings flied to right and Jeremy Slayden popped to shortstop to end the threat with Georgia Tech leading 3-1.

Cretarolo settled down after that and retired seven batters in a row before running into trouble in the bottom of the third, starting with a two-out walk to Nickeas. Remole doubled down the left-field line, and as the ball rattled around in the corner, Nickeas came all the way around from first base to score. Owings then singled to left to drive in Remole and give Tech a 5-1 lead after three innings.

The Tech defense hit a bump in the road in the top of the fourth, leading to two runs for the Wolfpack. With two out, Bakker hit Orvella with a pitch and Orvella went to second on an errant pickoff attempt by catcher Andy Hawranick. Marc Maynor reached on an infield single to put runners on the corners for Joe Gaetti, who reached on a throwing error by Nickeas at third base. That allowed Orvella to score, and Jeremy Dutton flared a single to shallow center field to drive in Maynor and cut the Yellow Jackets lead to 5-3.

The Wolfpack reciprocated in the bottom of the inning. Tyler Greene led off with a booming triple to dead center field and scored on Patterson's single to right. Patterson went to third when Cretarolo's pickoff attempt skipped past first baseman Dustin Knight for an error. Patterson got credit for a stolen base and took third on the throwing error. Riley, catching place of the injured Colt Morton, then tried to pick Patterson off third base, but his throw skipped past Patterson and Dutton and into left field for an error that sent Patterson home and gave Georgia Tech a 7-3 lead.

The Wolfpack got back into the game in the top of the fifth. Tim Coffield walked with one out and Matt Camp singled to left. Orvella followed with his fourth homer of the season, a long blast to left field, pulling the Pack to within a run at 7-6.

Tech pushed a couple of insurance runs across in the bottom of the seventh. Remole led off, walked, and then scored on Owings' double down the left-field line. Slayden doubled to center field, but Owings was tagged out in a rundown between third and home for the first out of the inning. Greene was retired on a groundout for the second out, but Hawranick blooped an RBI single just over Orvella's reach and into left field to give the Yellow Jackets a 9-6 lead.

The series will conclude on Saturday. Game time will be 1:30 p.m. The game will be aired on WKNC, 88.1 FM, and the broadcast, plus live in-game stats via Gametracker, will be available on the internet at gopack.com.

Note: The pairings for the ACC Tournament, which will begin on Tuesday, May 20, are almost set. Florida State, which swept Duke today, is the No. 1 seed, followed by Georgia Tech as the second seed. North Carolina, which split a twin-bill with Virginia today, is locked in as the No. 5 seed, and Virginia and Wake Forest have now clinched the Nos. 6 and 7 seeds, respectively. Maryland is No. 8 and Duke is No. 9. NC State needs a win over Georgia Tech or a Clemson loss at Wake Forest on Saturday to wrap up the third seed. If Clemson defeats Wake Forest and NC State loses to Georgia Tech on Saturday, then Clemson would capture the third seed.

The Tournament will open on Tuesday evening with Duke and Maryland in the play-in game. North Carolina will play either Clemson or NC State at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, followed by Florida State and the winner of the Duke-Clemson game at 1:30 p.m. Georgia Tech will play Wake Forest at 5 p.m., and Virginia will play Clemson or NC State at 8:30.