#16 Georgia Tech Rallies Past Eagles
2/27/2013 4:28:02 AM | Baseball
Box Score | Video: Post-Game with Head Coach Rodney Hennon
STATESBORO, Ga. - #16 Georgia Tech scored five runs in the sixth inning and three more in the seventh to complete an 11-4 come from behind victory over Georgia Southern in game one of the two-game mid-week series at J.I. Clements Stadium.
Georgia Tech's (7-1) Zane Evans capped off the sixth inning with a two run home run and drove in all three runs in the seventh with a second homer off the batter's eye in center field. Daniel Palka added three hits and scored two runs for the Yellow Jackets, who finished with 14 hits.
Alex Cruz (W, 1-0) picked up the win in relief of Georgia Tech starter Josh Heddinger. Cruz tossed 3.2 scoreless innings and struck out six batters, including two each in the fourth and fifth innings. Heddinger gave up three runs over 1.2 innings and was lifted after allowing a RBI single to Ben Morgan in the second inning.
“We had a rough sixth inning. Justin Hess went out and competed tonight. We did some good things in the first five innings, and I felt like we had the momentum on our side but a few mistakes in the sixth inning really hurt us and led to a big inning,” Head Coach Rodney Hennon said.
Morgan and Brent Pugh led Georgia Southern (4-3) with two hits each, and Morgan and Chase Griffin each drove in two runs. Eagle starter Justin Hess held the Yellow Jackets to just one run over five innings but ran into trouble in the sixth inning after the first four batters crossed the plate. Hess (L, 0-2) was tagged with the loss after giving up five runs on six hits and two walks while striking out five.
Georgia Tech's Sam Dove led off the sixth inning with a double and scored two batters later on a double from Palka. A.J. Murray lined a ball off of Hess' leg to score Brandon Thomas for the second run of the inning, and a balk by reliever Josh Steveson scored Palka before the homer from Evans.
Georgia Southern responded to a first inning Georgia Tech run with a two-run bottom half of the inning. Scooter Williams led off the inning with a hit by pitch and Griffin drove a two-run homer over the right field wall for an early 2-1 lead.
The Eagles added single runs in the second and fourth innings to extend their lead to 4-1. Pugh scored both runs after reaching base in his first three at-bats on the night. Morgan picked up both RBI after recording a pair of base hits.
“We had a good approach but when we lost the lead we got away from that a little bit,” Hennon said. “We got to pick ourselves up. We have another opportunity tomorrow, and we need to come out here excited about playing and ready to compete.”
Georgia Southern concludes a two game mid-week series with Georgia Tech tomorrow at 6 p.m. It will be Greek night at the ballpark, and freshman lefthander Evan Challenger will take the mound in his second start of the year for the Eagles.
Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics and twitter.com/GSAthletics, and its new "Eagles GATA" mobile app for Android and iOS.
