Georgia Tech's second straight win in the series clinched the No. 2 seed in next week's ACC Tournament in Salem, Va. Earlier in the day, Florida State (18-5 ACC) clinched the top seed in the tournament with a pair of wins over Duke.
Tech starter Kyle Bakker (8-1) earned the win, battling through five innings and keeping the Yellow Jackets in the game. The left-hander allowed six runs, four earned, on seven hits while issuing three walks and striking out five. The victory improved Bakker's career record to 25-4, and he has won 12 of his last 13 decisions dating back to the 2002 season.
After reliever Andrew Kown worked a scoreless sixth and seventh innings, Brian Burks retired the side in order in the eighth and ninth innings to earn his team leading seventh save of the season.
The Wolfpack jumped to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning with the 15th home run of the year from Justin Riley. The Yellow Jackets immediately answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning. Walks to the first three batters of the inning loaded the bases with no outs before Nickeas drove in Eric Patterson and Steven Blackwood with a double down the right field line and Remole scored Matt Murton with an RBI groundout.
Tech extended the lead to 5-1 with two runs in the third inning. After the first two batters of the inning were quickly retired, Mike Nickeas drew a walk and scored on Remole's RBI double before Owings drove in Remole with an RBI single up the middle.
N.C. State- mounted a charge in the top of the fourth inning, scoring two runs to pull within 5-3. The rally started when Chad Orvella was hit by a pitch with two outs and the bases empty. Jeremy Dutton had an RBI single in the inning, while Orvella scored when Joe Gaetti reached on an error.
The Yellow Jackets scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth to make the score 7-3. Tyler Greene led off the inning with a triple and scored on Patterson's RBI single, while Patterson stole second base, took third on a throwing error from pitcher Nate Cretarolo and scored on a second throwing error from catcher Justin Riley on attempted pickoffs.
A three run homer from Chad Orvella, his fourth of the year, got the Wolfpack back in the game in the top of the fifth inning and made the score 7-6.
Georgia Tech added two important insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the Yellow Jackets a three-run cushion at 9-6. Remole drew a walk to lead off the inning and then scored on Owings' double down the left field line. Jeremy Slayden followed with a double off the top of the center field wall, but Owings was thrown out while trying to score. After Greene grounded out for the second out of the inning, Andy Hawranick drove in Slayden with a two-out RBI single that fell just in front of left fielder Lee Mezistrano. Owings and Hawranick each had two hits in the game.
N.C. State- starter Nate Cretarolo (4-3) took the loss, allowing seven runs on five hits and six walks in 4.2 innings. The Yellow Jackets managed just nine hits in the game, but they were aided by nine walks from Wolfpack pitching.
Georgia Tech and N.C. State- will conclude the three-game series on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
2003 GEORGIA TECH BASEBALL
N.C. STATE at GEORGIA TECH
May 16, 2003 at Atlanta, Ga. (Russ Chandler Stadium)
N.C. STATE 6 (38-14,14-9 ACC) GEORGIA TECH 9 (39-14,17-6 ACC)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
Joe Gaetti rf.............. 5 0 0 0 Eric Patterson 2b.......... 4 2 1 1
Jeremy Dutton 3b........... 5 0 3 1 Steven Blackwood cf........ 4 1 0 0
Justin Riley c............. 4 1 1 1 Matt Murton lf............. 3 1 0 0
Colt Morton dh............. 4 0 0 0 Mike Nickeas 3b............ 2 1 1 2
Dustin Knight 1b........... 3 0 0 0 Davis Myers 3b............ 0 0 0 0
David Hicks 1b............ 1 0 0 0 Brandon Boggs ph.......... 1 0 0 0
Tim Coffield lf............ 2 1 1 0 Jake Hall 3b.............. 0 0 0 0
Lee Mezistrano ph/lf...... 1 0 0 0 Clifton Remole 1b.......... 3 2 1 2
Matt Camp 2b............... 4 1 1 0 Micah Owings dh............ 4 0 2 2
Chad Orvella ss............ 3 2 1 3 Jeremy Slayden rf.......... 3 1 1 0
Marc Maynor cf............. 4 1 1 0 Tyler Greene ss............ 4 1 1 0
Nate Cretarolo p........... 0 0 0 0 Andy Hawranick c........... 4 0 2 1
Phillip Davidson p........ 0 0 0 0 Kyle Bakker p.............. 0 0 0 0
Andrew Kown p............. 0 0 0 0
Brian Burks p............. 0 0 0 0
Totals..................... 36 6 8 5 Totals..................... 32 9 9 8
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
N.C. STATE.......... 100 230 000 - 6 8 2
GEORGIA TECH........ 302 200 20X - 9 9 4
-------------------------------------------
E - Riley(6); Cretarolo(5); Blackwood, S(2); Nickeas, M.(11); Hawranick, A(1);
Bakker, K.(1). DP - GEORGIA TECH 1. LOB - N.C. STATE 7; GEORGIA TECH 9.
2B - Coffield(6); Nickeas, M.(13); Remole, C.(10); Owings, M.(8); Slayden, J.(14).
3B - Greene, T.(2). HR - Riley(15); Orvella(4). HBP - Orvella; Hall, J..
SB - Patterson, E 2(32).
N.C. STATE IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO NP
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nate Cretarolo L,4-3...... 4.2 5 7 6 6 6 0 0 0 0 19 25 5 3 103
Phillip Davidson .......... 3.1 4 2 2 3 2 0 0 1 1 13 17 2 5 62
GEORGIA TECH IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO NP
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kyle Bakker W,8-1......... 5.0 7 6 4 3 5 0 0 1 2 24 28 4 6 102
Andrew Kown ............... 2.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 6 6 1 3 19
Brian Burks S,7........... 2.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 6 6 2 3 21
HBP - by Bakker, K. (Orvella); by Davidson (Hall, J.). Inherited runners/scored:
Davidson 2/0. Pitches/strikes: Cretarolo 103/53; Davidson 62/33; Bakker, K. 102/60;
Kown, A. 19/13; Burks, B. 21/16.
Strikeouts - Morton; Knight; Coffield; Camp; Orvella; Maynor 2; Patterson, E;
Blackwood, S 2; Murton, M.; Remole, C.; Slayden, J.; Hawranick, A 2. Walks - Riley;
Morton; Coffield; Patterson, E; Blackwood, S; Murton, M. 2; Nickeas, M.; Remole, C.
2; Owings, M.; Slayden, J..
Umpires - HP: Jack Cox 1B: Jeff Head 3B: Al Davis
Start: 7:13 pm Time: 2:54 Attendance: 2193