#25 Georgia Tech Sinks Tigers 5-1 in Game-One Friday

May 9, 2008

Atlanta, GA –

Junior lefthander David Duncan pitched 8.0 strong innings to lead #25 Georgia Tech to a 5-1 victory over Clemson in front of 1,852 fans at Russ Chandler Stadium on Friday night. The Yellow Jackets, who took a 1-0 series lead, improved to 35-14 overall and 13-12 in the ACC, while the Tigers fell to 25-24-1 overall, 10-17-1 in ACC play.

Duncan (7-2) allowed just six hits, one run, and no walks with five strikeouts in throwing 100 pitches to record the win. Andrew Robinson pitched a perfect ninth inning with two strikeouts to close out the game.

D.J. Mitchell (5-4) suffered the loss, as he went the distance for the Tigers. He allowed 14 hits, five runs (four earned), and no walks with nine strikeouts. The junior righthander also held the Yellow Jackets without a home run for the first time in their last 17 games.

The Yellow Jackets scored the game’s first runs in the second inning to take a 3-0 lead. Brad Feltes led off with a single to center and moved to second on Thomas Nichols’ single through the right side. Both runners moved up a base on Chase Burnette’s sacrifice bunt, then Jason Haniger grounded out to bring home Feltes. Charlie Blackmon followed with a two-out single up the middle to plate Nichols. After Blackmon advanced to second on a throwing error on a failed pickoff attempt, Jeff Rowland hit a chopper to the left of third-baseman Matt Sanders. The single glanced off Sanders’ glove and went towards shallow centerfield. Blackmon rounded third base and scored just ahead of the throw home.

Georgia Tech added to its lead thanks to another two-out hit in the third inning. After the first two Yellow Jackets were retired, Tony Plagman doubled down the left-field line. Feltes followed with a single to center to score Plagman.

The Tigers dented the scoreboard in the sixth inning when Kyle Parker blasted an opposite-field, solo home run to right field, his 11th long ball of the season.

In the seventh inning, the Yellow Jackets threatened to add to their lead, but Mitchell worked out of a jam. Haniger and Blackmon led off the frame with singles and Rowland followed with a bunt back to Mitchell, who turned to throw to third base but never released the ball. All Yellow Jackets were safe on the sacrifice bunt to load the bases with no outs. But catcher Doug Hogan picked Haniger off third, then Mitchell struck out the next to batters to end the inning.

The Yellow Jackets upped their lead to four runs in the eighth inning with a run. Plagman led off with a single to left-center and advanced to second on a passed ball. Two batters later, Nichols singled to right field to score Plagman.

Blackmon and Plagman paced Georgia Tech’s 14-hit attack with three hits apiece. Mike Freeman and Parker had two hits apiece for the Tigers, who totaled six hits in the contest. Jeff Schaus’ 12-game hitting streak came to an end after going 0-for-4.

Clemson and Georgia Tech will play game-two of the three-game series on Saturday at 7:00 PM. The contest will be televised live by CSS.