Auburn starter Arnold Hughey (3-0) held the Yellow Jackets to two runs, one of which was earned, on six hits in six-plus innings of work. He struck out eight batters and did not issue a walk. Steven Register earned his first save of the season by tossing three scoreless innings to close out the game.
The Tigers jumped to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on Sean Gamble's two-out, two run single up the middle. Tech responded in the top of the second inning when a single from Mike Nickeas and a double from Micah Owings put runners at second and third with no outs. Hughey nearly worked out of the jam by striking the next two hitters, but Wes Hodges reached on third baseman Ben Maitland's throwing error that allowed Nickeas to cross the plate and cut the lead to 2-1. Owings attempted to score from second base on the play but was thrown out at the plate.
Auburn scored three times in the fourth to take a 5-1 lead when the first four batters in the inning all reached base safely. Jeroloman led off with a single and moved to third on Josh Sullivan's double. Maitland drove in both runners with a triple down the right field line, while an RBI single up the middle from ninth place hitter Bruce Edwards plated Maitland with the third run of the inning.
A solo home run from Jeroloman, his first of the season, extended Auburn's lead to 6-2 in the seventh inning.
Tech had a number of opportunities to get back in the game, but the Jackets went just 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position, including six strikeouts. Since the first inning of last Friday's game against Southern California, the Yellow Jackets are 1-for-31 with runners in scoring position with 17 strikeouts.
Tech freshman Ryan Turner (0-1) took the loss in his first collegiate start, allowing five runs in three-plus innings of work. The bullpen of freshmen Lee Hyde, Blake Wood and John Goodman pitched well and kept the Jackets in the game, allowing just one run in six innings.
Tech's Wes Hodges went 3-for-4 in the game, while Clifton Remole went 0-for-4 to snap his hitting streak at 12 games.
Tech and Auburn will play the second game of the home-and-home series on March 30 in Atlanta.
Tech hosts Rutgers University for a three-game weekend series at Russ Chandler Stadium. The Yellow Jackets and Scarlet Knights open the series on Friday at 4 p.m. and continue on Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m. each day.
2004 GEORGIA TECH BASEBALL
#13 GEORGIA TECH at #9 AUBURN
Mar 02, 2004 at Auburn, Ala. (Plainsman Park)
GEORGIA TECH 2 (6-4) AUBURN 6 (10-1)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
Eric Patterson 2b.......... 5 0 1 1 Clete Thomas cf............ 4 0 1 0
Tyler Greene ss............ 4 0 0 0 Ben Sprague rf............. 4 1 1 0
Clifton Remole 1b.......... 4 0 0 0 Tug Hulett rf.............. 2 1 0 0
Mike Nickeas c............. 4 1 2 0 Josh Bell c................ 4 0 1 0
Micah Owings p............. 4 0 1 0 Sean Gamble lf............. 3 0 1 2
Brandon Boggs cf........... 3 0 0 0 Chuck Jeroloman ss......... 3 2 2 1
Steven Blackwood lf........ 4 1 1 0 Josh Sullivan 1b........... 4 1 1 0
Wes Hodges 3b.............. 4 0 3 0 Ben Maitland 3b............ 3 1 1 2
Jake Hall rf............... 2 0 0 0 Bruce Edwards dh........... 3 0 1 1
Whit Robbins ph........... 2 0 0 0 Arnold Hughey p............ 0 0 0 0
Ryan Turner p.............. 0 0 0 0 Steven Register p......... 0 0 0 0
Lee Hyde p................ 0 0 0 0
Blake Wood p.............. 0 0 0 0
John Goodman p............ 0 0 0 0
Totals..................... 36 2 8 1 Totals..................... 30 6 9 6
Score by Innings R H E
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GEORGIA TECH........ 010 010 000 - 2 8 0
AUBURN.............. 200 300 10X - 6 9 2
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E - Maitland(4); Hughey. DP - GEORGIA TECH 2. LOB - GEORGIA TECH 8; AUBURN 9.
2B - Patterson, E(4); Owings, M.(2); Hodges, W. 2(4); Sullivan, J.(5). 3B - Maitland(2).
HR - Jeroloman(1). HBP - Boggs, B.; Maitland; Edwards. SH - Thomas, C.; Sprague.
SB - Gamble(1).
GEORGIA TECH IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO NP
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Ryan Turner L,0-1......... 3.0 7 5 5 2 5 1 0 0 0 16 18 2 2 79
Lee Hyde .................. 1.0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 2 5 0 1 22
Blake Wood ................ 3.0 2 1 1 1 3 0 0 2 1 9 13 3 2 48
John Goodman .............. 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 3 3 1 1 11
AUBURN IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO NP
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Arnold Hughey W,3-0....... 6.0 6 2 1 0 8 0 0 1 0 25 26 7 2 97
Steven Register S,1....... 3.0 2 0 0 0 3 2 0 0 0 11 11 3 3 43
WP - Turner, R.(1); Goodman, J.(1); Register 2. HBP - by Hughey (Boggs, B.);
by Wood 2 (Edwards, Maitland). Inherited runners/scored: Hyde, L. 1/0; Wood, B. 1/0;
Register 1/0. Pitches/strikes: Turner, R. 79/51; Hyde, L. 22/11; Wood, B. 48/30;
Goodman, J. 11/9; Hughey 97/72; Register 43/31.
Strikeouts - Patterson, E 3; Remole, C.; Owings, M. 2; Boggs, B. 2; Blackwood, S;
Hall, J. 2; Thomas, C. 2; Sprague 2; Bell 2; Jeroloman; Sullivan, J.; Maitland;
Edwards 2. Walks - Hulett 3; Gamble; Jeroloman.
Umpires - HP: Steve Manders 1B: Ken Couch 3B: Tony Thompson
Start: 6:03 pm CST Time: 2:56 Attendance: 4069