Georgia Tech Subdues NC State 9-5

Friday, March 18

Atlanta, Ga.

7:00 PM

NC State

15-6, 0

Georgia Tech

17-2, 0

NC State

Georgia Tech

3/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

March 18, 2005

Final Stats

ATLANTA, Ga. - Steven Blackwood tied a school record with three doubles and drove in five runs Friday night to lead Georgia Tech past NC State 9-5 in the first game of a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference baseball series at Chandler Stadium. The win was Tech's 23rd ACC victory in a row and improved the Yellow Jackets to 17-2 overall and 7-0 in the ACC. The Wolfpack dropped to 15-6 overall and 3-4 in the conference./

Durham native Jason Neighborgall (5-0) started and picked up the victory for Georgia Tech after working six innings and allowing two runs, one earned, on three hits. Neighborgall battled his control all night, walking six and striking out five. Wolfpack starter Jeff Stallings (3-2) got the loss despite a solid performance. Stallings allowed three runs, two earned, on six hits in 5 1/3 innings. He walked two and struck out four.

Besides Blackwood, Wes Hodges swung a hot bat for the Yellow Jackets, going 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs, and Andy Hawranick went 2-for-4. Chris Engle had three singles in five at-bats for the Wolfpack, and Matt Devine went 2-for-5 and drove in a run. Aaron Bates went 2-for-4.

Danny Payne led off the bottom of the first for Georgia Tech and singled up the middle. Payne went to second on a wild pitch, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on an error b y Jonathan Diaz, an unearned run that put the Yellow Jackets in front 1-0.

The Wolfpack tied the game in the top of the third with a two-out rally. Lee Mezistrano drew a two-out walk and Neighborgall hit Jake Muyco with a pitch to put runners on first and second. Devine's bloop single to shallow left field scored Mezistrano to knot the score at 1-1.

Tech made it 3-1 with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third. Payne singled to right with one away and scored all the way from first on Blackwood's double to left-center. Blackwood came around on Hodges' RBI-single to left.

NC State picked up another two-out run in the top of the sixth. Engle reached on a two-out infield single, stole second and scored to cut the deficit to 3-2 when second baseman Mike Trapani dropped Ramon Corona's infield-pop-up.

Hodges led off the bottom of the sixth for Georgia Tech and was hit by a pitch. Jeremy Slayden walked to put runners on first and second with none out. Jeff Kindel bunted the runners to second and third, and Whit Robbins walked to load the bases. That marked the end of the night for Stallings. Adam McLaurin came in from the bullpen and got Hawranick to ground into a 6-4-3 double play.

Tech tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh. Payne reached on a force play and stole second. After Tyler Greene struck out, Blackwood doubled into the right-field corner to drive in Payne. Jason Duncan came in for the Wolfpack to pitch to the lefthanded-hitting Slayden and got him to hit a grounder to Corona at second, but Corona booted the ball for an error. Blackwood scored on the play to make it 5-2.

Devine led off the top of the eighth in singled to left. Engle beat out a chopper to third base for a single, putting runners on first and second. With one out, pinch-hitter Aaron Cone worked Weiters for a nine-pitch walk, and Matt Camp hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Devine and slice the Tech lead to 5-3.

Robbins was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the eighth and Hawranick singled to left. Michael Fisher grounded to Diaz, who threw to third to retire the lead runner and Payne struck out. Greene singled to left field to load the bases, however, and Blackwood hit his third double of the game, a three-run drive to straightaway center field, to make it 8-5. Hodges dunked a single into shallow left field to drive in Blackwood and give the Yellow Jackets a 9-3 lead.

Bates and Mezistrano led off the top of the ninth with back-to-back singles. Muyco hit a chopper to shortstop that Greene mishandled for an error, with Bates scoring from second on the play. With one out, Engle singled to left to load the bases, and Corona's groundout to first base drove in Mezistrano to make the final score 9-5.

The second game of the series will be Saturday at 7 p.m. Live in-game stats will be available on gopack.com through the Gametracker.