May 31, 2008

 

Georgia Tech gets by Louisville

 

By Phil Stanton

CollegeBaseballInsider.com Co-Founder

 

ATHENS, Ga. – The Yellow Jackets had the answer when they needed it.

 

After third-seeded Louisville scored three in the sixth to take the lead, No. 2 Georgia Tech answered with a pair in the bottom of the frame to reclaim the advantage on its way to an 8-5 win in the first round of the Athens Regional Friday at Foley Field.

 

"It was a great way for us to start the tournament," said Tech head coach Danny Hall. "I’m proud of the way they played and battled. We beat a very good Louisville team."

 

The Yellow Jackets (40-19) will meet fourth-seeded Lipscomb at 7 p.m. Saturday. The Cardinals (41-20) will face top-seeded Georgia at 3 p.m. in an elimination game.

 

The Yellow Jackets manufactured a run in the first as Charlie Blackmon drew a leadoff walk, moved to second on a wild pitch, stole third and scored on a sacrifice fly by Luke Murton. Tech added a run in the second with two outs as Jason Haniger singled and scored on a base hit by Blackmon to make it 2-0.

 

Louisville used the long ball to take the lead in the top of the sixth. After John Dao had a leadoff double and moved to third on a groundout, Justin McClanahan homered to left to even the score. One batter later, Chris Dominguez hit his 21st dinger to put the Cards on top 3-2.

 

The Jackets responded immediately. Blackmon had an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth and a second run came in on an error as the Jackets reclaimed the lead at 4-3.

 

Haniger’s two-run homer capped a three-run seventh as Tech took command at 7-3.

 

McClanahan went deep again in the eighth, his 12th, to make it a three-run game.

 

Tech scored its final run in the eighth as Chase Burnette drew a leadoff walk and scored on an error to make it 8-4. UL scored its final run in the ninth on a sacrifice fly by Drew Haynes.

 

Haniger went 3 for 4 with three runs and two RBI for Tech. Blackmon finished with three hits, one run and one RBI for the Jackets.

 

McClanahan was 3 for 4 for the Cards with two homers, two runs and three RBI.