Trailing 4-3 after seven and a half innings, the Yellow Jackets erupted for six runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. The inning was highlighted by a RBI triple from Brad Stockton, a RBI double from Jason Perry and RBI singles from Menocal and Matt Murton.
Kelly (7-2) went eight innings, marking his seventh consecutive start of seven innings or more. The right-hander allowed four runs, three earned, on eight hits and four walks while tying his season high with nine strikeouts. Closer Jeff Watchko tossed a scoreless ninth inning to close out the game.
Charleston Southern starter Chad Humbert (2-8) took the loss despite a solid effort. He allowed seven runs on 11 hits in 7.1 innings, although he held the Georgia Tech offense to just three runs on seven hits through the first seven innings of the game.
Tech took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning on Jason Basil's 11th home run of the season, and then made the score 2-0 on a RBI single from Menocal in the fourth.
The Buccaneers tied the score at 2-2 in the top of the fifth with a RBI double from Shayne New and a Tech error. The Yellow Jackets immediately answered in the bottom of that inning with a solo homer from Stockton, his seventh of the season, to retake the lead at 3-2.
CSU responded to take a 4-3 lead with two runs in the top of the sixth. Richardson and New each had RBI singles in the inning for the Bucs.
Menocal and Richard Lewis each had three hits for the Yellow Jackets, while Basil, Murton and Stockton each added two hits in the victory. Richardson went 3-for-4 for the Bucs in a losing effort.
Georgia Tech and Charleston Southern will continue the series on Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 1:30 p.m. The games will be broadcast on WREK-Radio (91.1 FM in Atlanta).
2001 Georgia Tech Baseball
CHARLESTON SOUTHERN at GEORGIA TECH
May 04, 2001 at Atlanta, Ga. (Chandler Stadium)
CHARLESTON SOUTHERN 4 (13-32) GEORGIA TECH 9 (34-14)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
Shayne New cf.............. 4 0 2 2 Matthew Boggs 2b........... 5 0 1 1
Brandon Massey lf.......... 3 0 0 0 Richard Lewis ss........... 5 2 3 0
Mario Suarez lf........... 2 0 0 0 Bryan Prince c............. 4 0 0 0
Chris Kellett 1b........... 3 0 1 0 Jason Basil rf............. 4 2 2 1
Adrian Vanderburg dh....... 4 0 0 0 Victor Menocal 3b.......... 4 1 3 2
Scott Thacker rf........... 4 0 0 0 Jason Perry 1b............. 2 1 1 1
Patrick Siemers rf........ 0 0 0 0 Matt Murton dh............. 4 1 2 1
David Martindale 3b........ 2 1 0 0 Brad Stockton lf........... 3 2 2 2
Brad Jones c............... 4 1 2 0 Wes Rynders cf............. 4 0 0 0
Brian Richardson 2b........ 4 1 3 1 Steve Kelly p.............. 0 0 0 0
Richard Gomersall ss....... 3 1 0 0 Jeff Watchko p............ 0 0 0 0
Chad Humbert p............. 0 0 0 0
Patrick Boucher p......... 0 0 0 0
Totals..................... 33 4 8 3 Totals..................... 35 9 14 8
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
CHARLESTON SOUTHERN. 000 022 000 - 4 8 1
GEORGIA TECH........ 010 110 06X - 9 14 1
-------------------------------------------
E - Suarez, M.; Basil, J.(6). DP - CSU 3; GEORGIA TECH 1. LOB - CSU 7; GEORGIA TECH 5.
2B - New, S.; Lewis, R.(10); Perry, J.(9). 3B - Stockton, B.(5).
HR - Basil, J.(11); Stockton, B.(7). HBP - Perry, J.. SH - Gomersall, R.
SB - Lewis, R.(10); Menocal, V.(6); Rynders, W.(10).
CHARLESTON SOUTHERN IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO NP
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chad Humbert L,2-8........ 7.1 11 7 7 2 2 0 0 1 0 30 33 4 13 112
Patrick Boucher ........... 0.2 3 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 5 5 1 0 21
GEORGIA TECH IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO NP
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steve Kelly W,7-2......... 8.0 8 4 3 4 9 0 0 0 0 30 35 7 7 116
Jeff Watchko .............. 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 3 3 1 0 14
HB - Humbert, C.. Inherited runners/scored: Boucher, P. 2/2.
Strikeouts - New, S. 2; Massey, B.; Suarez, M.; Vanderburg,A 2; Thacker, S.;
Martindale,D 2; Gomersall, R 2; Stockton, B.; Rynders, W. 2.
Walks - New, S.; Kellett, C.; Martindale,D 2; Perry, J.; Stockton, B..
Umpires - Home: Eric Johansen 1st: Paul Nauert 3rd: Randy Watkins
Start: 7:02 p.m. Time: 2:28 Attendance: 912