Now 11-4 in ACC play, the Yellow Jackets dropped into a tie for first place in the conference standings with Florida State (11-4). The Yellow Jackets and Seminoles, who have a showdown next week in Atlanta, are just percentage points ahead of third-place NC State (13-5).
Clemson starter Steven Jackson (6-2) earned the win, working 6.1 innings and allowing three runs. The right-hander allowed four hits and four walks and struck out three batters. Relievers Robert Rohrbaugh, Paul Harrelson, Jeff Hahn and Pat Clayton teamed to shut the Yellow Jackets out over the final 2.2 innings.
The Tigers took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning when McCann singled and scored on Roberto Valiente's sacrifice fly and David Slevin singled and scored on Steve Pyzik's two-out RBI single up the middle.
Clemson extended the lead to 4-0 in the fifth inning when McCann looped a two-out, two run double just over the head of Tech first baseman Clifton Remole to drive in Pyzik and Russell Triplett.
Meanwhile, Tech's offense was being held in check by Jackson, who allowed just two hits and six total base runners through the first six innings. The Yellow Jackets finally broke through in the top of the seventh inning to cut the lead to 4-3. Tyler Greene walked and Jake Hall singled with one out before Steven Blackwood came off the bench for a pinch hit, three-run homer to right field, his third of the season.
Clemson answered immediately in the bottom of the inning with four runs to retake control of the game, 8-3. The Tigers did all the damage with two outs, including four straight hits from Michael Johnson, McCann, Kyle Frank and David Slevin. Three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, including RBI singles from Frank and Zane Green, made the score 11-3.
Tech starter Micah Owings (6-2) took the loss, allowing seven earned runs in seven innings.
After taking a week off for final exams, Georgia Tech will return to action next weekend as the Yellow Jackets host No. 1 Florida State for a three game Atlantic Coast Conference series at Russ Chandler Stadium. The series begins on Friday at 7 p.m., and continues on Saturday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
2003 GEORGIA TECH BASEBALL
GEORGIA TECH at CLEMSON
April 27, 2003 at Clemson, S.C. (Doug Kingsmore Stadium)
GEORGIA TECH 3 (32-11,11-4 ACC) CLEMSON 11 (31-13,8-7 ACC)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
Brandon Boggs cf........... 5 0 0 0 Green, Zane rf............. 5 2 2 1
Jeremy Slayden rf.......... 3 0 0 0 Triplett, Russell ss....... 5 1 1 0
Matt Murton lf............. 4 0 0 0 Johnson, Michael 1b........ 3 1 1 0
Clifton Remole 1b.......... 2 0 0 0 McCann, Brad 3b............ 4 2 3 4
Mike Nickeas 3b/c.......... 4 0 1 0 Frank, Kyle cf............. 5 1 2 2
Micah Owings p/dh.......... 3 0 0 0 Evans, Garrick cf......... 0 0 0 0
Tyler Greene ss............ 1 1 0 0 Slevin, David 2b........... 5 1 2 1
Jake Hall 2b............... 4 1 2 0 Demmink, Herman dh......... 3 0 0 0
Andy Hawranick c........... 2 0 0 0 Valiente, Roberto lf....... 3 1 1 1
Steven Blackwood ph....... 1 1 1 3 Pyzik, Steve c............. 4 2 3 1
Davis Myers 3b............ 1 0 0 0 Jackson, Steven p.......... 0 0 0 0
Jeff Watchko p............ 0 0 0 0 Rohrbaugh, Robert p....... 0 0 0 0
Andrew Kown p............. 0 0 0 0 Harrelson, Paul p......... 0 0 0 0
Kyle Schmidt p............ 0 0 0 0 Hahn, Jeff p.............. 0 0 0 0
Clayton, Pat p............ 0 0 0 0
Totals..................... 30 3 4 3 Totals..................... 37 11 15 10
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
GEORGIA TECH........ 000 000 300 - 3 4 1
CLEMSON............. 020 020 43X - 11 15 0
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E - Slayden, J.(1). LOB - GEORGIA TECH 7; CLEMSON 7. 2B - McCANN(16).
HR - Blackwood, S(3). HBP - Greene, T. 2. SF - McCANN(4); VALIENTE(1).
GEORGIA TECH IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO NP
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Micah Owings L,6-2........ 7.0 11 8 7 2 1 0 0 0 0 31 34 14 6 95
Jeff Watchko .............. 0.0 3 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 0 0 8
Andrew Kown ............... 0.2 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 4 1 1 15
Kyle Schmidt .............. 0.1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 6
CLEMSON IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO NP
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jackson, Steven W,6-2..... 6.1 4 3 3 4 3 0 2 1 0 22 27 9 6 97
Rohrbaugh, Robert ......... 0.1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 1 11
Harrelson, Paul ........... 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 6
Hahn, Jeff ................ 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 3 0 2 10
Clayton, Pat .............. 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 3 4 0 2 19
Watchko, J. faced 3 batters in the 8th.
HBP - by JACKSON (Greene, T.); by CLAYTON (Greene, T.). BK - JACKSON 2(4). Inherited
runners/scored: Kown, A. 2/2; Schmidt, K. 2/0; HARRELSON 1/0. Pitches/strikes: Owings,
M. 95/67; Watchko, J. 8/5; Kown, A. 15/9; Schmidt, K. 6/3; JACKSON 97/55; ROHRBAUGH
11/6; HARRELSON 6/3; HAHN 10/6; CLAYTON 19/14.
Strikeouts - Boggs, B.; Remole, C.; Nickeas, M.; Owings, M.; Hall, J.; SLEVIN;
DEMMINK. Walks - Slayden, J.; Remole, C. 2; Owings, M.; Greene, T.; JOHNSON 2;
DEMMINK.
Umpires - HP: A.J. Lostaglio 1B: Tony Maners 3B: Mickey Fuqua
Start: 2:04 pm Time: 2:46 Attendance: 5060