Neighborgall (3-0) earned the win after holding the Bears (9-18) to one run on four hits in six innings. He issued two walks and struck out five batters. Aaron Walker, Owings and Jeff Watchko each worked a scoreless inning in relief to complete the combined five-hitter. The four Georgia Tech pitchers allowed just four Mercer runners to advance past first base in the game.
A solo home run from Owings, his team-leading seventh of the year, gave the Yellow Jackets a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Eric Patterson tripled and scored in the third inning to make the score 2-0. Mercer cut into the lead in the top of the fifth inning when Jason Camardese singled, took second base on a passed ball and scored on Luke Jackson's RBI double down the right field line.
After Jeremy Slayden led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a double, Tyler Greene belted a two-run home run, his sixth of the year, to make the score 4-1. The Yellow Jackets added three runs in the seventh inning, including a RBI single from Slayden, to make the score 7-1. Another RRBI single from Slayden, who went 3-for-4 in the game, and an RBI groundout from Tyler Greene gave the Yellow Jackets a 9-1 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Mercer starter Chris Bishop (1-5) took the loss despite a solid outing, allowing two runs on four hits in four innings. Mercer second baseman Luke Jackson went 3-for-3 in the loss.
With the win, Georgia Tech improved to 47-8 against teams from the state of Georgia since 1999.
Georgia Tech will next travel to Miami for a three-game series beginning on Friday at 7 p.m., and continuing on Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. All three games will be televised by Fox Sports Net Florida (DISH Network Ch. 423), while the games on Friday and Sunday will be televised by Fox Sports Net South. Radio coverage for the entire series will be available via WREK Radio (91.1 FM in Atlanta).
2003 GEORGIA TECH BASEBALL
MERCER at GEORGIA TECH
March 25, 2003 at Atlanta, Ga. (Russ Chandler Stadium)
MERCER 1 (9-18) GEORGIA TECH 9 (21-2)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
GAINES, Jason cf........... 3 0 0 0 Eric Patterson 2b.......... 5 1 1 0
BYRD, Rick lf.............. 4 0 0 0 Brandon Boggs cf........... 4 0 3 0
APPALUCCI, Mike rf......... 3 0 0 0 Clifton Remole 1b.......... 5 1 1 0
HURST, Daniel 3b........... 4 0 1 0 Matthew Swain 1b.......... 0 0 0 0
ALVAREZ, Roger ss.......... 4 0 0 0 Matt Murton lf............. 4 1 1 0
LYNCH, Jarrod 1b........... 4 0 0 0 Mike Nickeas 3b............ 3 0 1 0
CAMARDESE, Jason c......... 4 1 1 0 Davis Myers 3b............ 1 1 1 0
JACKSON, Luke 2b........... 3 0 3 1 Micah Owings dh/p.......... 3 1 1 1
JOHNSTON, Kyle dh.......... 2 0 0 0 Steven Blackwood ph/dh.... 0 1 0 0
BISHOP, Chris p............ 0 0 0 0 Jeremy Slayden rf.......... 4 2 3 2
BOWLING, Adam p........... 0 0 0 0 Tyler Greene ss............ 5 1 2 3
CARRIS, Jake p............ 0 0 0 0 Andy Hawranick c........... 3 0 0 0
Cameron Lane ph/c......... 1 0 0 0
Jason Neighborgall p....... 0 0 0 0
Aaron Walker p............ 0 0 0 0
Jeff Watchko p............ 0 0 0 0
Totals..................... 31 1 5 1 Totals..................... 38 9 14 6
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
MERCER.............. 000 010 000 - 1 5 2
GEORGIA TECH........ 011 002 32X - 9 14 0
-------------------------------------------
E - HURST, D(2); ALVAREZ, R(9). DP - GEORGIA TECH 1. LOB - MERCER 6; GEORGIA TECH
12. 2B - JACKSON, L(3); Myers, D.(1); Slayden, J.(6). 3B - Patterson, E(1). HR -
Owings, M.(7); Greene, T.(6). HBP - Nickeas, M.; Blackwood, S; Hawranick, A. SB -
GAINES, J(14); Boggs, B. 2(7). CS - Greene, T.(4).
MERCER IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO NP
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BISHOP, Chris L,1-5....... 4.0 4 2 2 3 5 0 0 1 0 15 19 3 3 74
BOWLING, Adam ............. 3.0 7 5 3 1 4 0 1 1 0 17 19 2 3 68
CARRIS, Jake .............. 1.0 3 2 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 6 7 2 1 24
GEORGIA TECH IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO NP
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jason Neighborgall W,3-0.. 6.0 4 1 1 2 5 0 0 0 0 21 23 5 7 82
Aaron Walker .............. 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 4 4 0 2 15
Micah Owings .............. 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 4 0 2 17
Jeff Watchko .............. 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 3 1 1 8
HBP - by BISHOP, C (Hawranick, A); by BOWLING, A (Nickeas, M.); by CARRIS, J (Blackwood,
S). BK - BOWLING, A(3). PB - Hawranick, A(2). Inherited runners/scored: Owings, M. 2/0.
Pitches/strikes: BISHOP, C 74/42; BOWLING, A 68/37; CARRIS, J 24/16; Neighborgall 82/44;
Walker, A. 15/9; Owings, M. 17/11; Watchko, J. 8/7.
Strikeouts - BYRD, R; APPALUCCI, M; HURST, D; LYNCH, J 3; CAMARDESE, J 2; Remole, C.
2; Murton, M.; Nickeas, M.; Owings, M.; Slayden, J.; Hawranick, A 3. Walks - GAINES,
J; APPALUCCI, M; JOHNSTON, K; Boggs, B.; Murton, M.; Blackwood, S; Slayden, J..
Umpires - HP: Tony Thompson 1B: Steve Manders 3B: Jack Martin
Start: 7:07 pm Time: 2:36 Attendance: 1442