Turner (1-1) earned his first career win in his second start, working a season-long seven innings. The left-hander allowed three runs on six hits while striking out six and not issuing a walk. After allowing three runs over the first three innings, the rookie settled down to retire 13 of the final 14 batters he faced.
After reliever Ryan Self worked a perfect eighth inning, freshman John Goodman earned his second save of the season by striking out the side in the ninth inning.
Trailing 3-2 entering the bottom of the seventh, the Yellow Jackets rallied for two runs to take a 4-3 lead. Tyler Greene led off the inning with a single and stole second base. After a groundout from Steven Blackwood moved the tying run into scoring position, pinch hitter Whit Robbins dropped a single over a drawn in infield to tie the game at 3-3. After Robbins stole second base with two outs, Wes Hodges laced an RBI single to right field to give Tech a 4-3 lead.
Western Carolina struck for a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning when Chad McKown doubled with two outs and scored on Matt Nelson's RBI single. The Catamounts added two more runs in the third on Jared Greenwood's sacrifice fly and Alex Gray's RBI triple off the top of the left field wall to extend the lead to 3-0.
Tech answered in the bottom of the third inning when Andy Hawranick was hit by a pitch and Hodges, who went 2-for-4, delivered a two-out RBI double to cut the lead to 3-1. In the fifth, Jake Hall singled with two outs and scored when Eric Patterson laced a double to left center and center fielder Matt Nelson bobbled the ball.
Western Carolina reliever Luke Miller (0-1) took the loss, allowing two runs in one inning of work. Starter Brian Barnes pitched well, allowing just one earned run in 5.1 innings, but did not figure in the decision.
Georgia Tech and Western Carolina will conclude the two-game series on Wednesday at 4 p.m., as the Yellow Jackets send sophomore right-hander Jason Neighborgall to the mound.
2004 GEORGIA TECH BASEBALL
WESTERN CAROLINA at #17 GEORGIA TECH
March 9, 2004 at Atlanta, Ga. (Russ Chandler Stadium)
WESTERN CAROLINA 3 (7-7) GEORGIA TECH 4 (9-5)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
Todd Roper 2b.............. 4 1 2 0 Eric Patterson 2b.......... 4 0 1 0
Chris Davis 3b............. 3 1 0 0 Wes Hodges 3b.............. 4 0 2 2
Denver Edick c............. 4 0 1 0 Brandon Boggs cf........... 3 0 1 0
Jared Greenwood 1b......... 3 0 0 1 Mike Nickeas 1b/c.......... 3 0 0 0
Alex Gary rf............... 4 0 1 1 Clifton Remole rf.......... 4 0 0 0
Brian Sigmon dh............ 3 0 0 0 Micah Owings dh............ 4 0 0 0
Jimmy Cochran ph.......... 1 0 0 0 Tyler Greene ss............ 4 1 1 0
Chad McKown lf............. 4 1 1 0 Andy Hawranick c........... 1 1 0 0
Matt Nelson cf............. 3 0 1 1 Steven Blackwood ph/lf.... 1 0 0 0
Wayne Kilmer ss............ 3 0 0 0 Jake Hall lf............... 2 1 1 0
Brian Barnes p............. 0 0 0 0 Whit Robbins ph/1b........ 1 1 1 1
Luke Miller p............. 0 0 0 0 Ryan Turner p.............. 0 0 0 0
Mike McGowan p............ 0 0 0 0 Ryan Self p............... 0 0 0 0
Brian McCullen p.......... 0 0 0 0 John Goodman p............ 0 0 0 0
Totals..................... 32 3 6 3 Totals..................... 31 4 7 3
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
WESTERN CAROLINA.... 012 000 000 - 3 6 2
GEORGIA TECH........ 001 010 20X - 4 7 0
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E - Davis(6); Nelson(2). DP - W. CAROLINA 1. LOB - W. CAROLINA 4; GEORGIA TECH 6.
2B - Edick(4); McKown(1); Patterson, E(6); Hodges, W.(6). 3B - Gary(2). HBP - Davis;
Hawranick, A. SF - Greenwood(2). SB - Hodges, W.(4); Boggs, B.(5); Greene, T.(5);
Robbins, W.(3).
WESTERN CAROLINA IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO NP
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brian Barnes .............. 5.1 4 2 1 1 3 0 0 1 0 21 23 11 2 75
Luke Miller L,0-1......... 1.0 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 0 2 14
Mike McGowan .............. 0.1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 7
Brian McCullen ............ 1.1 1 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 5 6 2 0 27
GEORGIA TECH IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO NP
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ryan Turner W,1-1......... 7.0 6 3 3 0 5 0 0 1 0 26 28 6 10 105
Ryan Self ................. 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 0 3 6
John Goodman S,2.......... 1.0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 3 3 0 0 13
HBP - by Turner, R. (Davis); by Barnes (Hawranick, A). Inherited runners/scored: Miller
2/0; McGowan 1/0; McCullen 1/1. Pitches/strikes: Barnes 75/48; Miller 14/9; McGowan 7/4;
McCullen 27/15; Turner, R. 105/68; Self, R. 6/5; Goodman, J. 13/9.
Strikeouts - Roper; Greenwood; Gary; Sigmon 2; Cochran; McKown; Nelson; Patterson, E
2; Boggs, B.; Owings, M.; Greene, T.; Hawranick, A. Walks - Boggs, B.; Nickeas, M..
Umpires - HP: Tony Thompson 1B: Ken Couch 3B: Steve Manders
Start: 4:03 pm Time: 2:21 Attendance: 1058