Georgia Tech's 12-game winning streak to open 2003 stands as the second best mark to start a season. The Yellow Jackets set a school record with a 16-0 start in 1987.
The Yellow Jackets broke through for 13 hits after collecting just nine hits in their previous two games combined. Jeremy Slayden and Tyler Greene led the Tech attack with three hits apiece, while Nickeas and Eric Patterson added two hits each.
Rutgers took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning on a solo home run from Matt Wolski, his first of the season, before Georgia Tech answered with seven runs in the bottom of the inning. Davis Myers belted a two-run homer, his first of the season, Jeremy Slayden hit an RBI triple, Mike Nickeas drove in two runs with a single and Matt Murton added an RBI single.
The Scarlet Knights added two runs in the top of the third on RBI singles from Johnny Defrendes and Nick Cerulo, cutting the lead to 7-3. Tech answered with in the bottom of that inning when Eric Patterson drew a bases loaded walk to make the score 8-3. Canuso hit a solo home, his second of the season, to make the score 8-4 in the top of the fourth inning.
The Yellow Jackets stretched their lead to 11-3 with an RBI double from Slayden in the fifth inning and a two-run homer from Mike Nickeas, his second of the year, in the sixth inning. Rutgers' Jason Grover walked and scored in the seventh inning and Graig Badger doubled and scored on a wild pitch in the top of the ninth inning to provide the final 11-6 margin.
Nickeas drove in a career high four runs in the game, while Myers tied a personal high with three RBI.
Tech starter Kyle Bakker improved to 4-0 in four starts despite a rocky outing in which he allowed four runs on 12 hits in five innings. Rutgers' starter Jack Egbert (0-2) took the loss, surrendering eight runs in two-plus innings.
Georgia Tech and Rutgers will continue the three-game series on Saturday at 12 noon and Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
2003 GEORGIA TECH BASEBALL
RUTGERS at GEORGIA TECH
March 7, 2003 at Atlanta, Ga. (Russ Chandler Stadium)
RUTGERS 6 (1-5) GEORGIA TECH 11 (12-0)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
BADGER, Graig 2b........... 5 1 3 0 Eric Patterson 2b.......... 4 2 2 1
WOLSKI, Matt dh............ 6 1 3 1 Brandon Boggs cf........... 5 0 0 0
FRAZIER, Jeff rf........... 6 0 1 0 Jeremy Slayden rf.......... 4 1 3 2
ESPOSITO, Vinny 3b......... 5 1 1 0 Steven Blackwood rf....... 0 0 0 0
CANUSO, Rich 1b............ 5 1 2 1 Matt Murton lf............. 3 0 1 1
VASQUEZ, Alberto c......... 3 1 2 0 Clifton Remole 1b.......... 4 1 0 0
DEFENDIS, Johnny lf........ 5 0 2 1 Micah Owings dh............ 5 1 1 0
CERULO, Nick cf............ 5 0 2 1 Tyler Greene ss............ 5 3 3 0
GROVER, Jason ss........... 3 1 0 0 Mike Nickeas c............. 5 2 2 4
RODRIGUEZ, Cory ph........ 1 0 0 0 Davis Myers 3b............. 3 1 1 3
EGBERT, Jack p............. 0 0 0 0 Kyle Bakker p.............. 0 0 0 0
GROSE, Jeff p............. 0 0 0 0 Brian Burks p............. 0 0 0 0
KALB, Aaron p............. 0 0 0 0 Aaron Walker p............ 0 0 0 0
ATCHISON, Sean p.......... 0 0 0 0 Jeff Watchko p............ 0 0 0 0
DECHRISTOFANO, OJ p....... 0 0 0 0
Totals..................... 44 6 16 4 Totals..................... 38 11 13 11
Score by Innings R H E
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RUTGERS............. 102 100 101 - 6 16 1
GEORGIA TECH........ 701 012 00X - 11 13 3
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E - BADGER(1); Patterson, E(1); Greene, T.(5); Myers, D.(4). DP - RUTGERS 1; GEORGIA
TECH 2. LOB - RUTGERS 15; GEORGIA TECH 9. 2B - BADGER(2); Patterson, E(3); Slayden,
J.(2). 3B - Slayden, J.(2). HR - WOLSKI(1); CANUSO(2); Nickeas, M.(2); Myers, D.(1).
HBP - BADGER; Murton, M.. SB - Patterson, E 2(9); Myers, D.(2).
RUTGERS IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO NP
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EGBERT, Jack L,0-2........ 2.0 8 8 7 2 2 0 0 1 0 16 19 2 2 76
GROSE, Jeff ............... 1.0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 2 4 1 0 18
KALB, Aaron ............... 3.0 4 3 3 1 3 1 0 0 0 13 14 1 5 56
ATCHISON, Sean ............ 1.0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 4 4 1 0 16
DECHRISTOFANO, OJ ......... 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 3 1 1 10
GEORGIA TECH IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO NP
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kyle Bakker W,4-0......... 5.0 12 4 4 1 5 1 0 0 0 29 30 8 2 99
Brian Burks ............... 2.0 2 1 1 2 1 0 0 1 0 7 10 0 4 37
Aaron Walker .............. 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 1 1 8
Jeff Watchko .............. 1.0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 4 4 0 3 13
EGBERT faced 4 batters in the 3rd.
GROSE faced 2 batters in the 4th.
WP - KALB(1); Bakker, K.(1); Watchko, J.(2). HBP - by EGBERT (Murton, M.); by Burks, B.
(BADGER). Inherited runners/scored: GROSE 3/0; KALB 2/0. Pitches/strikes: EGBERT 76/44;
GROSE 18/8; KALB 56/30; ATCHISON 16/10; DECHRISTOFNO 10/7; Bakker, K. 99/66; Burks, B.
37/19; Walker, A. 8/6; Watchko, J. 13/6.
Strikeouts - BADGER 2; FRAZIER; ESPOSITO; DEFENDIS; GROVER; Boggs, B. 3; Remole, C.;
Owings, M. 3; Greene, T. 2. Walks - VASQUEZ 2; GROVER; Patterson, E; Slayden, J.;
Murton, M.; Remole, C.; Myers, D..
Umpires - HP: Steve Manders 1B: Tony Thompson 3B: Ken Couch
Start: 4:04 pm Time: 3:13 Attendance: 1350