MACON, Ga. - Brandon Boggs belted his first collegiate home run, and four Georgia Tech pitchers combined on a seven-hittter to lead the top-ranked Yellow Jackets (3-0) to a 9-1 win over Mercer (5-7) on Wednesday afternoon at Claude Smith Field.
Tech starter Jason Neighborgall (1-0), one of four Tech pitchers on the afternoon, earned the victory after tossing three shutout innings. Kyle Schmidt, Andrew Kown, and Nick Wagner all pitched in relief. Schmidt allowed one hit and one walk in three innings, striking out four batters. Kown worked two innings, allowing one run on three hits while striking out three, and Wagner worked the final inning of the game.
Tech jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first inning when Eric Patterson led off the game with a walk and Boggs followed with a two-run homer, the first of his career. The Yellow Jackets plated three more runs in the fourth, scoring on an RBI double from Patterson and a two-run single from Jeremy Slayden. A sacrifice fly from Patterson made the score 6-0 in the top of the sixth.
Tech added two runs in the seventh, stretching the lead to 8-0. Micah Owings was hit by a pitch and eventually scored after stealing third base and coming around on an errant throw by Mercer's catcher Josh Thompson. Clifton Remole singled and scored on an RBI hit from Tyler Greene. A two-out RBI single from Remole made the score 9-0 in the eighth inning.
Mercer broke up the shutout with an RBI groundout by Kyle Johnston in the bottom of the eighth, making the score 9-1.
Remole paced the Tech attack with three hits in five at-bats. Boggs and Slayden added two hits each as Tech outhit Mercer, 12-7.
Georgia Tech will return to action on Friday at 12:30 p.m. when the Yellow Jackets face Rider on the first day of the Diamond Classic in Savannah. Other teams competing in the tournament are Michigan and host Armstrong Atlantic State.
2003 GEORGIA TECH BASEBALL
GEORGIA TECH at MERCER
Feb 19, 2003 at Macon, Ga. (Claude Smith Field)
GEORGIA TECH 9 (3-0) MERCER 1 (5-7)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------
Eric Patterson 2b........ 3 2 1 2 1 0 3 3 3 GAINES, Jason cf......... 5 0 2 0 0 1 4 0 0
Cameron Lane ph......... 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 BYRD, Rick lf............ 5 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
Mike Trapani 2b......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 APPALUCCI, Mike rf....... 3 0 0 0 2 1 4 0 3
Brandon Boggs cf......... 4 1 2 2 1 1 0 1 0 LYNCH, Jarrod 1b......... 3 0 0 0 0 3 4 0 2
Garrett Groce ph/cf..... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 HURST, Daniel dh......... 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2
Jeremy Slayden rf........ 4 0 2 2 1 0 0 0 1 ALVAREZ, Roger ss........ 4 0 2 0 0 0 1 1 0
Matthew Swain rf........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 JOHNSTON, Kyle 3b........ 3 0 0 1 0 1 1 2 0
Matt Murton lf........... 5 1 1 0 0 1 3 0 2 THOMPSON, Josh c......... 4 0 0 0 0 3 8 1 1
Micah Owings dh.......... 3 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 WELLS, Andy 2b........... 4 0 2 0 0 0 3 2 3
Steven Blackwood ph..... 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 BOWLING, Adam p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Clifton Remole 1b........ 5 2 3 1 0 0 8 0 1 MORRISON, James p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Mike Nickeas c........... 3 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 0 DAVIDSON, Brandon p..... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Andy Hawranick ph/c..... 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 2 BISHOP, Chris p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Tyler Greene ss.......... 5 1 1 1 0 2 1 4 0 JONES, Brian p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Jake Hall 3b............. 2 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0
Davis Myers 3b.......... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
Jason Neighborgall p..... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kyle Schmidt p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Andrew Kown p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Nick Wagner p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 37 9 12 8 5 8 27 10 10 Totals................... 34 1 7 1 2 9 27 6 11
Score by Innings R H E
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GEORGIA TECH........ 200 301 210 - 9 12 2
MERCER.............. 000 000 010 - 1 7 3
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E - Boggs, B.(1); Hall, J.(1); ALVAREZ, R 2; THOMPSON, J.
DP - GEORGIA TECH 1; MERCER 1. LOB - GEORGIA TECH 10; MERCER 11.
2B - Patterson, E(2); GAINES, J(4). HR - Boggs, B.(1).
HBP - Owings, M.; Nickeas, M.; Hall, J.; LYNCH, J; HURST, D; JOHNSTON, K.
SF - Patterson, E(1). SB - Murton, M.(1); Owings, M.(1); GAINES, J(10).
GEORGIA TECH IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP MERCER IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP
-------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------
Jason Neighborgall.. 3.0 2 0 0 1 2 11 14 45 BOWLING, Adam....... 2.0 2 2 2 2 2 7 10 43
Kyle Schmidt........ 3.0 1 0 0 1 4 9 11 36 MORRISON, James..... 2.0 4 3 3 2 2 10 12 47
Andrew Kown......... 2.0 3 1 1 0 3 10 10 32 DAVIDSON, Brandon... 2.0 1 1 0 0 1 7 8 27
Nick Wagner......... 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 4 4 12 BISHOP, Chris....... 2.0 5 3 2 0 2 11 13 44
JONES, Brian........ 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 2 3 16
Win - Neighborgall (1-0). Loss - BOWLING, A (1-2). Save - None.
WP - Neighborgall(1). HBP - by BOWLING, A (Nickeas, M.); by Neighborgall 2 (LYNCH, J; JOHNSTON, K);
by Schmidt, K. (HURST, D); by BISHOP 2 (Owings, M.; Hall, J.).
Inherited runners/scored: None.
Pitches/strikes: Neighborgall 45/22; Schmidt, K. 36/23; Kown, A. 32/24; Wagner, N. 12/6;
BOWLING, A 43/21; MORRISON, J 47/29; DAVIDSON, B 27/16; BISHOP, C 44/26; JONES, B 16/9.
Umpires - HP: Ed Haggray 1B: Ken Couch 3B: Tony Thompson
Start: 4:05 pm Time: 2:35 Attendance: 486
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