Tech (41-16) advanced in the losers' bracket to face North Carolina at either 8 p.m. Saturday night or 9:30 a.m. Sunday. North Carolina and N.C. State, the tournament's only remaining undefeated teams, meet at approximately 4 p.m. this afternoon. If the Tar Heels win, they face the Yellow Jackets at 8 p.m. Saturday night. If they lose, the teams will play at 9:30 a.m. Sunday. Duke (18-36) was eliminated.
The Jackets set an all-time team high for runs in an ACC Tournament game, and came within one of a tournament scoring record set by Clemson against Tech in 1991. The margin of victory set a tournament record, breaking the previous mark of 16 in the same game.
Slayden, who was 1-for-6 with a home run in Tech's first two tournament games, set a tournament record and tied a Tech mark for hits by going 6-for-6, adding a pair of doubles and three singles to his first-inning homer.
Tech sent 14 men to the plate in the first and set an all-time team high for runs in an inning of an ACC Tournament game.
Blackwood's blast high off the scoreboard in right-center field, his fifth homer of the season, came after Eric Patterson reached second on an outfield error to start the game. After Matt Murton struck out, Clifton Remole walked and Mike Nickeas singled, setting up Slayden's blast to deep center field, his eighth of the season, which made the score 5-0.
Micah Owings doubled and scored on an error, and Tech scored three more times in the frame on run-scoring singles from Patterson, Blackwood and Remole added run-scoring singles to make the score 9-0.
Tyler Greene belted his eighth homer of the season with two men aboard in the second to make the score 12-1. Singles by Remole and Slayden sandwiched around a walk to Nickeas plated another run for Tech in the third to extend the lead to 13-1.
Junior Aaron Walker (3-2), making just his third start of the year, was the beneficiary of Tech's outburst, which came on the heels of a scoreless effort Friday night against NC State. The lefthander went the distance, scattering 11 hits and two walks while striking out six. Only two of the four runs he allowed were earned. His previous long outing was 5-2/3 innings earlier this month against Georgia.
His complete game was just the third for Tech this season and came at a juncture where the Jackets must win three more games to win the tournament.
Tech added five runs in the sixth and five more in the seventh to expand its lead to 23-1 before the Blue Devils scored three times against Walker in the eighth. Remole finished the game 4-for-5 with four RBI, while Patterson and Blackwood drove in three runs apiece. Catcher Andy Hawranick went 3-for-5 with an RBI.
Duke used five pitchers in the game. Tech had chased two Blue Devils pitchers by the end of the second inning. Starter Kevin Thompson (2-10) was gone after Slayden's homer in the first, having faced just six batters while giving up five runs. Reliever Zach Schreiber didn't fare much better, allowing seven of the 11 hitters he faced to score before giving way to Justin Dilucchio in the second. Dilucchio surrendered nine runs in 4-1/3 innings, and Drew Jerdan five unearned runs in just 1-1/3 innings.
In earlier action Saturday, Florida State eliminated Virginia, 2-0, and advances in the losers' bracket to meet N.C. State. That game will occur at 8 p.m. tonight of the Wolfpack defeats North Carolina, or at 9:30 a.m. Sunday if the Wolfpack loses to the Tar Heels.
The ACC Tournament will conclude Sunday, beginning at 9:30 a.m. game between teams to be determined, followed by a 1 p.m. contest that could decide the championship. If necessary, a third game will be played Sunday approximately 30 minutes afterward to decide the championship. The 1 p.m. game will be televised live on Fox Sports Net South and Sunshine Network. The potential third game will be aired live on Sunshine Network and on a tape-delayed basis at 8 p.m. on Fox Sports Net South.
Radio coverage for all of Tech's games in the double elimination tournament is available on WREK Radio (91.1 FM in Atlanta).
2003 GEORGIA TECH BASEBALL
DUKE vs GEORGIA TECH
May 24, 2003 at Salem, Va. (Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium)
DUKE 4 (18-36) GEORGIA TECH 23 (41-16)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
Javier Socorro lf.......... 5 0 0 0 Eric Patterson 2b.......... 5 3 2 3
Adam Murray ss............. 5 0 2 1 Mike Trapani 2b........... 2 1 0 0
Brian Patrick rf........... 3 0 1 0 Steven Blackwood cf........ 5 2 2 3
Tim Layden 1b.............. 2 0 1 0 Brandon Boggs cf.......... 1 1 1 1
Lee Lawrence ph/1b........ 2 0 0 0 Matt Murton lf............. 4 1 1 1
Troy Caradonna c........... 5 2 2 0 Clifton Remole 1b.......... 5 2 4 4
John Berger dh............. 4 0 2 0 Mike Nickeas dh............ 3 1 1 0
Brian Hernandez 3b......... 4 1 1 1 Cameron Lane ph/dh........ 2 0 0 0
Michael Golom 2b........... 4 1 1 1 Jeremy Slayden rf.......... 6 4 6 4
Senterrio Landrum cf....... 4 0 1 0 Micah Owings 3b............ 3 3 2 0
Kevin Thompsom p........... 0 0 0 0 Jake Hall 3b.............. 2 0 2 0
Zach Schreiber p.......... 0 0 0 0 Tyler Greene ss............ 4 2 1 3
Justin Dilucchio p........ 0 0 0 0 Davis Myers ss............ 2 0 0 0
Drew Jerdan p............. 0 0 0 0 Andy Hawranick c........... 5 3 3 1
Blake Walker p............ 0 0 0 0 Aaron Walker p............. 0 0 0 0
Totals..................... 38 4 11 3 Totals..................... 49 23 25 20
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
DUKE................ 010 000 030 - 4 11 5
GEORGIA TECH........ 931 005 50X - 23 25 3
-------------------------------------------
E - Javier Socorro (8); Adam Murray(19); Troy Caradonna(5); Brian Hernandez(8); Michael
Golom(16); Hall, J. 2(13); Myers, D.(7). DP - DUKE 3; GEORGIA TECH 2. LOB - DUKE 11;
GEORGIA TECH 8. 2B - Tim Layden(16); Troy Caradonna(14); John Berger(3); Remole, C.
2(13); Slayden, J. 2(16); Owings, M.(9). 3B - Patterson, E(4). HR - Blackwood, S(5);
Slayden, J.(8); Greene, T.(8). HBP - Tim Layden; John Berger. SB - Patterson, E(34).
CS - Adam Murray(7).
DUKE IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO NP
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kevin Thompson L,2-10...... 0.1 3 5 4 1 1 1 0 0 0 5 6 0 0 21
Zach Schreiber ............ 0.2 6 7 3 2 0 1 0 0 0 9 11 2 0 46
Justin Dilucchio .......... 4.2 9 6 4 2 3 0 0 0 0 21 23 2 6 63
Drew Jerdan ............... 1.1 5 5 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 10 10 1 1 34
Blake Walker .............. 1.0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 5 1 1 14
GEORGIA TECH IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO NP
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aaron Walker W,3-2........ 9.0 11 4 2 2 6 0 0 2 0 38 42 9 9 123
WP - Kevin Thompson(4); Zach Schreiber(14). HBP - by Walker, A. (Tim Layden); by Walker, A.
(John Berger). Inherited runners/scored: Drew Jerdan 1/0. Pitches/strikes: Kevin Thompson
21/10; Zach Schreiber 46/25; Justin Dilucchio 63/36; Drew Jerdan 34/23; Blake Walker 14/6;
Walker, A. 123/75.
Strikeouts - Javier Socorro 2; Brian Patrick; Lee Lawrence; Senterrio Landrum 2; Blackwood,
S 2; Murton, M. 2; Lane, C.; Myers, D.. Walks - Brian Patrick 2; Murton, M. 2;
Remole, C.; Nickeas, M.; Owings, M.; Hawranick, A.
Umpires - HP: Jack Cox 1B: Randy Harvey 2B: Scott Graham 3B: David Savage
Start: 12:58 pm Time: 2:37 Attendance: 2328