b e e s b a l l . c o m

Tech Handles Jacksonville State 16-3 in NCAA Atlanta Regional

ATLANTA – Eric Patterson went 3-for-4, with a home run and four runs batted and Brian Burks (8-5) won his sixth straight decision to lead top-seeded Georgia Tech (42-19) over fourth-seeded Jacksonville State (31-28), 16-3, Friday night in the Atlanta Regional at Russ Chandler Stadium.

The fifth-ranked Yellow Jackets collected 20 hits in the contest while scoring three runs in the second, third and fourth innings and adding five more in the seventh inning to cruise past the Gamecocks. Tech’s 16-run outburst is the most since the 2000 NCAA Tournament and is tied for the fourth most ever in 84 postseason games.

Burks worked eight innings for Tech and scattered 10 hits while allowing three runs, two earned. The senior right-hander also struck out five. Jacksonville State starter Bobby Wynns (9-7) picked up the loss for the Gamecocks, throwing 3.1 innings, allowing nine hits, 10 runs, nine earned runs while striking out two.

Freshman Whit Robbins went 3-for-5, with a home run, two runs batted in and a double. Junior Clifton Remole hit his fourth NCAA post-season home run, tying him for the second most in Tech history with Jason Varitek, Nomar Garciaparra, Jason Perry, K.G. White and Jeff Distasio. Remole ended the game 3-for-5 with three RBIs and scored three times.

The top-seeded Yellow Jackets will face No. 2 seed Texas Tech at 3 p.m. on Saturday afternoon at Russ Chandler Stadium. No. 3 seed Mississippi State will take on No. 4 seed Jacksonville State at 11 a.m. on Saturday morning in an elimination game.

Post Game Quotes

Jacksonville State Head Coach Jim Case:
"Obviously we didn't get off to a real good start from a pitching and defense standpoint and they swung the bats really well. I thought offensively we battled really hard until the game got out of hand a little bit, I thought we really played. Tech was really good, they swung the bats aggressive."

Georgia Tech Head Coach Danny Hall:
"We're very pleased with our start. You've got to give Jacksonville STate a lot of credit. They came out very aggressively and hit some balls hard early, but Brian [Burks] really settled in. He did a great job of mixing pitches, hitting his spots and keeping them in check. Scoring the run in the first inning was big for us, and obviously Eric's home run was a big blow to give us the lead. It seemed like every ball Clifton hit tonight was right on the money. A good start for us, and a pretty clean game after the first couple of innings.

"Eric said it when we got together after the game. He said, 'Hey the monkey's off our backs'. Obviously last year we did not get off to a good start in the regional here. Winning the first game always gives you momentum, but you have to keep winning to keep the momentum. I was very impressed with Texas Tech's club today after watching them play, and we know we have a battle on our hands tomorrow."

Georgia Tech Pitcher Brian Burks:
"The first two innings, I thought my arm slot was little off and inconsistent and I wasn't locating my fastball too well. It was kind of like last week in the ACC Tournament when I struggled a little bit in the first two innings. Once I got some consistency with my slot, I started finding the corners a little more. Those first two innings they swung the bat well and definitely made me pay for my mistakes. Credit to our team for fighting back."

Georgia Tech Rightfielder Clifton Remole:
"It's awesome to hit in the lineup. One through nine could be a three-hole hitter. It's different people stepping up every night. In front of that crowd, it's always nice to hit."

              2004 GEORGIA TECH BASEBALL
         Jacksonville State at Georgia Tech
 June 4, 2004 at Atlanta, Ga. (Russ Chandler Stadium)

Jacksonville State 3 (31-28)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Bobby Hicks 3b...........  2  0  2  2   0  0  0  3   0
 Danny Civello ph........  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Winston Pearson lf.......  4  1  2  0   0  0  1  0   3
 Shundel Russaw ph.......  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
Robby Goodson dh.........  3  0  0  1   0  1  0  0   0
Austin Stein rf..........  4  0  0  0   0  0  2  0   0
Scott Smith c............  4  1  1  0   0  1  5  0   2
 Johny Prosser c.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  3  0   0
Brian Haskins 1b.........  3  0  2  0   0  0  5  0   0
 Clint Carroll ph/1b.....  1  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
Jake Ball ss.............  4  0  1  0   0  1  1  1   0
Jason Horn cf............  4  0  1  0   0  1  4  0   2
Cory Tucker 2b...........  1  0  0  0   1  1  1  4   1
 Bret Pettus ph/2b.......  2  1  1  0   0  1  1  0   0
Bobby Wynns p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Brian Booth p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Jon Clements p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Danny Andres p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 34  3 10  3   1  7 24  8   8

Georgia Tech 16 (42-19)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Eric Patterson 2b........  4  2  3  4   2  0  3  4   0
 John Goodman 2b.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Tyler Greene ss..........  6  2  1  1   0  3  1  3   3
Steven Blackwood lf......  4  3  1  0   1  0  2  0   2
Micah Owings dh..........  5  1  2  1   0  2  0  0   0
 Jake Hall ph............  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Brandon Boggs cf.........  3  2  2  1   2  1  2  0   0
 Cameron Lane ph/cf......  1  0  1  0   0  0  0  0   0
Clifton Remole rf........  5  3  3  3   0  0  3  0   2
 Andy Hawranick ph/c.....  1  0  0  0   0  0  2  0   0
Mike Nickeas c...........  6  0  2  1   0  1  5  1   3
 Lee Hyde rf.............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Whit Robbins 1b..........  5  2  3  2   0  1  8  0   0
Mike Trapani 3b..........  5  1  2  1   0  0  1  2   2
 Tim Gustafson 3b........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Brian Burks p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Jared Hyatt p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
Totals................... 46 16 20 14   5  8 27 11  12

Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Jacksonville State.. 110 000 100 -  3 10  4
Georgia Tech........ 133 301 50X - 16 20  1
-------------------------------------------

E - HICKS,Bobby(16); SMITH,Scott 2(7); TUCKER,Cory(2); Boggs, B.(4). DP -
Georgia Tech 1. LOB - Jacks. St. 8; Georgia Tech 12. 2B - HORN,Jason(11);
Greene, T.(18). HR - Patterson, E(8); Remole, C.(4); Robbins, W.(1). HBP -
HICKS,Bobby 2; Blackwood, S. SF - GOODSON,Robb(3). SB - Patterson, E(46);
Greene, T.(16); Blackwood, S(7). CS - HICKS,Bobby(5).

Jacksonville State     IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP
--------------------------------------------------
Bobby Wynns.........  3.1  9 10  9  2  2 20 23  77
Brian Booth.........  2.2  5  1  1  0  3 13 13  49
Jon Clements........  0.2  5  5  5  3  2  7 10  30
Danny Andres........  1.1  1  0  0  0  1  6  6  28

Georgia Tech           IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP
--------------------------------------------------
Brian Burks.........  8.0 10  3  2  1  5 31 35 111
Jared Hyatt.........  1.0  0  0  0  0  2  3  3  11

Win - Burks, B. (8-5).  Loss - WYNNS,Bobby (9-7).
WP - WYNNS,Bobby(7); BOOTH,Brian 2(12); Burks, B.(2). HBP - by Burks, B.
(HICKS,Bobby); by WYNNS,Bobby (Blackwood, S); by Burks, B. (HICKS,Bobby).
Inherited runners/scored: BOOTH,Brian 2/1; ANDRES,Danny 3/0. Pitches/strikes:
WYNNS,Bobby 77/49; BOOTH,Brian 49/31; CLEMENTS,Jon 30/14; ANDRES,Danny 28/20;
Burks, B. 111/74; Hyatt, J. 11/9.
Umpires - HP: Doug Williams  1B: Randy Bruns  2B: Chuck Lyon  3B: Dan O'Connell
Start: 7:01 pm   Time: 2:45   Attendance: 3537