April 15, 2006

TECH EVENS SERIES WITH CLEMSON 12-3

ATLANTA - Tim Ladd pitched 5.2 innings of shutout relief and Wes Hodges homered and drove in a career-high six runs to lead No. 10 Georgia Tech to a 12-3 win over No. 5 Clemson (27-9, 10-4) on Saturday afternoon at Russ Chandler Stadium.

The Yellow Jackets (27-9, 9-8 ACC) evened the three-game series with the Tigers (27-9, 10-4) at one win each.

Ladd (3-2) entered the game with two outs in the second inning and held the Tigers scoreless through the seventh inning. He allowed three hits and two walks, and struck out two batters. Tech's bullpen of Ladd, Tim Gustafson and Matt Wieters worked 7.2 scoreless innings in the game.

Hodges went 2-for-4 with six RBI. He hit a three-run double to spark Tech's four-run fifth inning and then hit a three-run homer in a six-run eighth inning.

Steven Blackwood went 3-for-4 and scored three runs, and Danny Payne added two hits, including a home run.

Clemson starter Jason Berken (4-3) took the loss, allowing four runs on five hits and four walks in four-plus innings.

The Yellow Jackets took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Blackwood singled, took second base when Matt Wieters drew a walk, and scored on an RBI single from Kindel.

Clemson answered with three runs in the top of the second inning to take a 3-1 lead. A single from Tyler Colvin and walks to Marquez Smith and Travis Storrer loaded the bases with one out before Stan Widmann had a two-run single and Adrian Casanova added an RBI single.

Tech erupted for four runs in the fifth inning to retake the lead, 5-3. Payne led off the inning with a solo home run, his team-leading ninth of the year. The Yellow Jackets loaded the bases on a single, a walk and a hit batter before Wes Hodges delivered a bases-clearing double to the left center field wall.

Payne extended Tech's lead to 6-3 in the sixth inning when he walked, stole second base, took third on a groundout and scored on a passed ball.

Tech broke the game open with a six-run eighth inning, scoring all six runs after two outs and no runners on base. Payne and Blackwood singled, and Wieters followed with a two-run double. Whit Robbins had an RBI single and Hodges hit a three-run homer, his eighth of the year.

Georgia Tech and Clemson conclude the three-game series on Sunday at 1 p.m. The game will be televised by FSN South.

-30-
                               2006 GEORGIA TECH BASEBALL
                             #5 Clemson at #10 Georgia Tech
                   April 15, 2006 at Atlanta, Ga. (Russ Chandler Stadium)
 
  Clemson 3 (27-9,10-4 ACC)                     Georgia Tech 12 (27-9,9-8 ACC)
  Player                      AB  R  H BI       Player                      AB  R  H BI
  ---------------------------------------       ---------------------------------------
  Herman Demmink 3b..........  5  0  0  0       Danny Payne cf.............  4  3  2  1
  Brad Chalk cf..............  5  0  3  0       Steven Blackwood lf........  4  3  3  0
  Taylor Harbin 2b...........  5  0  0  0       Matt Wieters dh/p..........  3  1  1  2
  Tyler Colvin lf............  4  1  2  0       Jeff Kindel rf.............  4  2  1  1
  Andy D'Alessio 1b..........  4  0  0  0       Whit Robbins 1b............  4  2  1  1
  Marquez Smith dh...........  3  1  0  0       Wes Hodges 3b..............  4  1  2  6
  Travis Storrer rf..........  2  1  0  0       Andy Hawranick c...........  4  0  0  0
  Stan Widmann ss............  3  0  1  2       Mike Trapani 2b............  4  0  1  0
  Adrian Casanova c..........  2  0  1  1       Michael Fisher ss..........  4  0  0  0
   Ben Hall c................  1  0  0  0       Jared Hyatt p..............  0  0  0  0
  Jason Berken p.............  0  0  0  0        Tim Ladd p................  0  0  0  0
   Alex Martin p.............  0  0  0  0        Tim Gustafson p...........  0  0  0  0
   Steve Richard p...........  0  0  0  0
   Drew Fiorenza p...........  0  0  0  0
  ---------------------------------------       ---------------------------------------
  Totals..................... 34  3  7  3       Totals..................... 35 12 11 11
 
  Score by Innings                    R  H  E
  -------------------------------------------
  Clemson............. 030 000 000 -  3  7  1
  Georgia Tech........ 100 041 06X - 12 11  3
  -------------------------------------------
 
  E - RICHARD(1); Fisher, M. 2(13); Ladd, T.(1). DP - Georgia Tech 1. LOB - Clemson 9;
  Georgia Tech 7. 2B - COLVIN(14); Wieters, M.(8); Hodges, W.(11). HR - Payne, D.(9);
  Hodges, W.(8). HBP - CASANOVA; Kindel, J.; Robbins, W.. SB - COLVIN(13); Payne,
  D.(18). CS - DEMMINK(3).
 
  Clemson                        IP  H  R ER BB SO  WP BK HP IBB  AB BF  FO GO  NP
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Jason Berken  L,4-3........   4.0  5  4  4  4  3   0  0  0  0   17 21   7  2  93
  Alex Martin ...............   0.1  0  1  1  0  0   0  0  1  0    1  2   0  1   2
  Steve Richard .............   3.1  3  3  2  2  0   0  0  0  0   13 15   6  4  51
  Drew Fiorenza .............   0.1  3  4  4  0  0   0  0  1  0    4  5   0  1  19
 
  Georgia Tech                   IP  H  R ER BB SO  WP BK HP IBB  AB BF  FO GO  NP
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Jared Hyatt ...............   1.1  3  3  3  2  1   0  0  0  0    7  9   1  2  26
  Tim Ladd  W,3-2............   5.2  3  0  0  2  2   0  1  1  0   20 23   4  9  84
  Tim Gustafson .............   1.0  0  0  0  0  1   0  0  0  0    3  3   0  2  15
  Matt Wieters ..............   1.0  1  0  0  0  2   0  0  0  0    4  4   0  1  12

  Berken faced three batters in the 5th.
 
  HBP - by Ladd, T. (CASANOVA); by MARTIN (Robbins, W.); by FIORENZA (Kindel, J.). 
  BK - Ladd, T.(1). PB - CASANOVA(6). Inherited runners/scored: MARTIN 2/0; RICHARD 3/3;
  FIORENZA 2/2; Ladd, T. 2/0. Pitches/strikes: BERKEN 93/52; MARTIN 2/2; RICHARD 51/28;
  FIORENZA 19/11; Hyatt, J. 26/16; Ladd, T. 84/51; Gustafson, T 15/8; Wieters, M. 12/9.
 
  Strikeouts - HARBIN 2; D'ALESSIO; M. SMITH 2; HALL; Wieters, M.; Kindel, J.;
  Robbins, W.. Walks - M. SMITH; STORRER 2; WIDMANN; Payne, D.; Blackwood, S; Wieters,
  M. 2; Hodges, W.; Hawranick, A.
 
  Umpires - HP: Scott Graham  1B: Paul Guillie  3B: Al Davis
  Start: 1:06 pm   Time: 2:49   Attendance: 3192