ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Robby Read and two relievers combined on a six-hitter, and Jerrod Brown drove in three runs to lead top-seeded Florida State past Georgia Tech 7-4 on Saturday afternoon and eliminate the Yellow Jackets (46-14) from the Atlantic Coast Conference baseball tournament at Florida Power Park.
Florida State (55-12) took advantage of two Tech errors to score five times in the first two innings and then coasted behind the pitching of Read (8-1) and relievers Daniel Davidson and Daniel Hodges. Eric Patterson booted a ground ball by Stephen Drew to start the game, and FSU made the Jackets pay with a run-scoring single from Blair McCaleb and a two-run double by Tony Richie.
"We just got off to a tough start," said Tech head coach Danny Hall. "We made some errors early in the game that gave them some extra outs, and some extra opportunities and like a good team, they capitalized on it. We had a chance to score in the first inning with a runner at third and one out and didn't do it. We had a guy on second, nobody out and didn't get him to third. So we wasted some early opportunities. They took advantage of every mistake that we made, whether it was defensively or making bad pitches. That's a sign of a good team. They capitalized on our mistakes, which great teams do and they're a great team right now."
The Seminoles added a pair of runs in the second, taking advantage of a pair of walks from losing pitcher Brian Burks (9-6), one with the bases loaded after a two-out fielding error by third baseman Matthew Boggs. Ryan Barthelemy, who had three hits in the game, drove in one with a single in the second.
Brown drove in a run in the second on a bases-loaded walk, singled home a run in the fourth and plated the Seminoles' final tally in the sixth on a ground out.
Tech chipped back with unearned runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Jeremy Slayden singled and scored two batters later when Drew threw away a double-play chance at first. Wes Rynders walked, stole second, reached third on an error and scored on Patterson's ground ball in the fifth. The Jackets added two more runs in the eighth on three straight hits, including a run-scoring double by Matt Murton, and a sacrifice fly by Jason Perry, to make it 7-4.
Tech threatened again in the ninth with a single from Rynders and a double by pinch-hitter Brandon Boggs with one out against Hodges. But the Seminoles' closer got Patterson and Victor Menocal to fly out to end the game and earn his 10th save.
Read was not particularly sharp in his five innings of work, walking five batters, but he held Tech to just one hit and struck out three to earn the win. Davidson provided solid relief for three innings, giving up two runs on three hits, before Hodges closed the deal in the ninth for the Seminoles.
Burks labored from the beginning, giving up six runs on seven hits and three walks in four innings. Only two of the runs against Burks were earned. Aaron Walker finished the game, allowing a run on two hits over four innings.
The Seminoles (55-12), who won their 21st consecutive game, moved into Saturday night's title game against the winner of a Saturday afternoon elimination game between Clemson and Wake Forest. That winner must defeat FSU twice to gain the ACC championship. Tech returns home to await a Monday announcement on where it will play its regional games in the NCAA Tournament.
"I'll be very disappointed if we don't host a regional, but I have no clue what's going on with those regionals" said Hall. "If someone can figure that out then they are a lot smarter man than I am. I think our RPI is in the top 10, I think our league is the best league in the country. We played good down the stretch against some great competition. So to not get a regional would be a major injustice to our team."
2002 GEORGIA TECH BASEBALL
GEORGIA TECH vs FLORIDA STATE
May 25, 2002 at St. Petersburg, Fla. (Florida Power Park)
GEORGIA TECH 4 (46-14) FLORIDA STATE 7 (55-12)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
Eric Patterson 2b.......... 4 0 0 1 Stephen Drew ss............ 4 3 1 0
Victor Menocal ss.......... 5 1 1 0 Tony McQuade lf............ 4 2 1 0
Jeremy Slayden rf.......... 4 2 2 0 Ryan Barthelemy 3b......... 5 0 3 1
Matt Murton lf............. 3 0 1 1 Blair McCaleb dh........... 3 1 1 1
Jason Perry dh............. 1 0 0 1 Scott Toole pr/dh......... 1 0 0 0
Tyler Parker 1b............ 3 0 0 0 Jerrod Brown 1b............ 3 1 1 3
Matthew Boggs 3b........... 4 0 0 0 Tony Richie c.............. 3 0 1 2
Wes Rynders cf............. 2 1 1 0 Richie Smith cf............ 4 0 0 0
Mike Nickeas c............. 3 0 0 0 Mike Futrell rf............ 4 0 0 0
Brandon Boggs ph.......... 1 0 1 0 Bryan Zech 2b.............. 3 0 1 0
Brian Burks p.............. 0 0 0 0 Robby Read p............... 0 0 0 0
Aaron Walker p............ 0 0 0 0 Daniel Davidson p......... 0 0 0 0
Daniel Hodges p........... 0 0 0 0
Totals..................... 30 4 6 3 Totals..................... 34 7 9 7
Score by Innings R H E
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GEORGIA TECH........ 000 110 020 - 4 6 2
FLORIDA STATE....... 320 101 00X - 7 9 2
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E - Patterson, E(12); Boggs, M.(20); Drew(6); Richie(3).
DP - FSU 2. LOB - GEORGIA TECH 7; FSU 10.
2B - Murton, M.(12); Boggs, B.(15); McQuade(22); Barthelemy(24); Richie(17).
HBP - Murton, M.; Drew. SF - Perry, J.(6).
SB - Patterson, E(36); Rynders, W. 2(9); Drew(11). CS - Zech(3).
GEORGIA TECH IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO NP
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Brian Burks L,9-6......... 4.0 7 6 2 3 4 0 0 0 0 21 24 3 5 85
Aaron Walker .............. 4.0 2 1 1 3 2 0 0 1 2 13 17 6 3 62
FLORIDA STATE IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO NP
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Robby Read W,8-1.......... 5.0 1 2 0 5 3 0 0 1 0 14 20 3 7 69
Daniel Davidson ........... 3.0 3 2 2 1 3 0 0 0 0 11 13 2 4 50
Daniel Hodges S,10........ 1.0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 5 3 0 16
HB - Walker, A.; Read. Inherited runners/scored: None. Pitches/strikes: Burks, B. 85/57;
Walker, A. 62/32; Read 69/30; Davidson 50/31; Hodges 16/12.
Strikeouts - Patterson, E; Slayden, J.; Parker, T.; Boggs, M.; Nickeas, M. 2;
McQuade; Toole; Smith; Futrell 3. Walks - Patterson, E; Perry, J. 2; Parker, T.;
Rynders, W. 2; McQuade; McCaleb; Brown 2; Richie; Zech.
Umpires - HP: Jack Cox 1B: Scott Graham 2B: Mickey Fuqua 3B: A.J. Lostaglio
Start: 11:59 a.m. Time: 2:42
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