Baseball Drops Game Two at #21 Georgia Tech
3/29/2012 1:55:00 AM | Baseball
ATLANTA - A five-run fifth inning for #21 Georgia Tech broke open a 3-3 tie and gave the Yellow Jackets a 2-1 season series victory over the Georgia Southern Baseball team. The Eagles led early but were unable to recover from the big inning, falling 10-5 at Russ Chandler Stadium on Wednesday.
Georgia Southern (12-14) was held to two hits through the first four innings and committed one costly error which led to two runs. Scooter Williams (Detroit, Mich.) and Chase Griffin (Leesburg, Ga.) both tallied multi-hit games for the Eagles, with Griffin collecting three of the team's eight base knocks.
Georgia Tech (16-10) broke open a 3-3 tie in the fifth inning and took the lead for good after batting through the order to score five runs. The Yellow Jackets tallied three of the five runs in the frame on a home run off the light pole in right field. A lead off walk of the freshman, Thomas Smith, came around to score on a double over the head of the centerfielder off the bat of Sam Dove. Jake Davis reached out and poked a ball into left field to drive in the second run of the inning.
Cole Pitts (3-1) picked up the win after a quality start of eight strikeouts. Pitts tossed six innings and allowed three runs on five hits and two walks. Josh Adams (Bath, S.C.) (0-2) was the tough luck loser after two unearned runs crossed the plate in the fourth inning. Adams tossed four innings and allowed four runs on five hits.
Georgia Southern opened the scoring for the second-straight game with a two-run homer from Griffin, his team-leading sixth of the season, in the fourth inning. Eric Phillips (Carrollton, Ga.) walked before the home run and scored the first run of the game.
An error helped give Georgia Tech a 3-2 lead in the bottom half of the fourth inning after Jake Davis plated a run on an infield single. Daniel Palka followed with a double to move two runners into scoring position before a two-out grounder to shortstop was misplayed and allowed both runners to score.
The Eagles tied the contest at 3-3 in the fifth inning with a two-out bloop single off the bat of Scooter Williams (Detroit, Mich.). Ben Morgan (Evans, Ga.) scored on the play after reaching base on a fielder's choice. The sophomore shortstop stole second base to move into scoring position before Williams dropped a ball in front of the rightfielder for an RBI.
Georgia Southern battled to the last out in the ninth inning to cut the deficit to five runs before Clay Dalton struck out Casey Kicklighter (Jesup, Ga.) to end the game. The Eagles tallied three two-out hits and scored a run on Griffin's single to center field. A second run crossed the plate on an errant throw by the Yellow Jackets' shortstop.
Georgia Southern returns home to J.I. Clements Stadium for a three-game series against the Southern Conference's leader in College of Charleston. Game times are 6 p.m. on Friday, 2:30 p.m. on Saturday and 1:30 p.m. on Sunday.
The game can also be heard on the Boomer 103.7 FM and inside the stadium on 88.1 FM. Audio for all games is also available on the web and subscription video is available for all home games at GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com/Eaglevision.
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