February 18, 2005

TECH TOPS IONA IN SERIES OPENER 9-3

ATLANTA - Catcher Andy Hawranick had two hits and drove in three runs, and Jason Neighborgall pitched six strong innings to lead No. 14 Georgia Tech (3-1) to a 9-3 win over visiting Iona (0-1) on Friday afternoon in the opener of a three-game series.

The Yellow Jackets won their third straight game after dropping their season opener.

Neighborgall (1-0) picked up his first win of the year with a solid outing. The junior right-hander worked six innings, allowing three runs on six hits and two walks while striking out a career-high eight batters.

Matt Wieters earned his first career save by working the three scoreless innings to close out the game, allowing just one baserunner and striking out four.

Leading by a slim 4-3 margin, the Yellow Jackets exploded for four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. A walk to Wieters and a double from Whit Robbins put runners on second and third bases before Hawranick drove in both runners with a single to left field. Steven Blackwood capped the inning with a two-run double.

The Yellow Jackets added an insurance run in the eighth inning on Mike Trapani's RBI groundout.

Hawranick, Wes Hodges and Jeremy Slayden each had two hits in the game for the Yellow Jackets. Eight of Tech's nine starters had at least one hit.

Tech jumped to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning on an RBI single from Wieters and an RBI groundout from Hawranick. The Yellow Jackets extended the lead to 3-0 on Wes Hodges' bases loaded walk in the third inning.

An RBI single from Ryan Bucci pulled the Gaels to within 3-1 in the top of the fourth inning, but Hawranick scored on a balk in the bottom of the inning to make the score 4-1.

Iona scored twice in the sixth, including an RBI single from James LaSala, to make the score 4-3. LaSala and Matt Bruno paced the Gaels' offense with two hits each.

Iona starter Marty Hand (0-1) took the loss, allowing four runs in four innings.

Georgia Tech and Iona will continue the three-game series with a doubleheader on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

-30-
                               2005 GEORGIA TECH BASEBALL
                               Iona at #14 Georgia Tech
                  Feb. 18, 2005 at Atlanta, Ga. (Russ Chandler Stadium)

 Iona 3 (0-1)                                  Georgia Tech 9 (3-1)
 Player                      AB  R  H BI       Player                      AB  R  H BI
 ---------------------------------------       ---------------------------------------
 Potocki, Dan 2b............  3  0  0  0       Danny Payne cf.............  6  1  1  0
 Callahan, Matt ss..........  3  0  0  0       Tyler Greene ss............  3  1  1  0
 Bruno, Matt c..............  4  1  2  0       Steven Blackwood lf........  3  0  1  2
 Conte, Nick 1b.............  4  1  1  0       Jeremy Slayden rf..........  4  1  2  0
 LaSala, James rf...........  4  1  2  1       Wes Hodges 3b..............  4  2  2  1
 Taylor, Lawrence lf........  3  0  1  0       Matt Wieters dh/p..........  2  1  1  1
 Bucci, Ryan dh.............  3  0  1  1       Whit Robbins 1b............  3  1  1  0
 Dederick, A.J. 3b..........  3  0  0  0       Andy Hawranick c...........  4  2  2  3
 Rodriguez, Dan cf..........  2  0  0  0       Mike Trapani 2b............  4  0  0  1
  Currie, Tim ph............  0  0  0  0       Jason Neighborgall p.......  0  0  0  0
  Hackimer, Ed cf...........  2  0  0  0
 Hand, Marty p..............  0  0  0  0
  Walsh, Shawn p............  0  0  0  0
  Kosky, James p............  0  0  0  0
 Totals..................... 31  3  7  2       Totals..................... 33  9 11  8

 Score by Innings                    R  H  E
 -------------------------------------------
 Iona................ 000 102 000 -  3  7  2
 Georgia Tech........ 021 100 41X -  9 11  1
 -------------------------------------------

 E - LaSala(1); Dederick(1); Hawranick, A(1). DP - Georgia Tech 1. LOB - Iona 6;
 Georgia Tech 13. 2B - Blackwood, S(2); Hodges, W.(2); Robbins, W.(2). HBP -
 Callahan; Blackwood, S 2. SH - Dederick(1); Greene, T.(1); Trapani, M.(1). 
 SB - Potocki(1). CS - LaSala(1); Bucci(1). Reached on CI - Potocki.

 Iona                           IP  H  R ER BB SO  WP BK HP IBB  AB BF  FO GO  NP
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Hand, Marty  L,0-1.........   4.0  5  4  4  3  4   0  2  1  0   15 21   4  4  82
 Walsh, Shawn ..............   2.2  4  4  4  4  2   0  1  1  0   12 17   4  2  63
 Kosky, James ..............   1.1  2  1  0  2  2   0  0  0  0    6  8   1  1  36

 Georgia Tech                   IP  H  R ER BB SO  WP BK HP IBB  AB BF  FO GO  NP
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Jason Neighborgall  W,1-0..   6.0  6  3  3  2  8   2  0  1  0   21 26   4  4 103
 Matt Wieters  S,1..........   3.0  1  0  0  0  4   0  0  0  0   10 10   1  4  36

 WP - Neighborgall 2(3). HBP - by Neighborgall (Callahan); by Hand (Blackwood, S); by
 Walsh (Blackwood, S). BK - Hand 2(2); Walsh(1). PB - Hawranick, A(2). CI - Hawranick, A.
 Inherited runners/scored: Kosky 2/2. Pitches/strikes: Hand 82/46; Walsh 63/32; Kosky
 36/20; Neighborgall 103/67; Wieters, M. 36/25.

 Strikeouts - Potocki 2; Callahan 2; Conte 2; Taylor; Bucci; Dederick 2; Rodriguez;
 Hackimer; Payne, D.; Greene, T.; Blackwood, S; Slayden, J. 2; Wieters, M.;
 Hawranick, A; Trapani, M.. Walks - Taylor; Bucci; Greene, T.; Slayden, J.; Hodges,
 W.; Wieters, M. 3; Robbins, W. 2; Hawranick, A.

 Umpires - HP: Robert Hefner  1B: Ken Couch  3B: Steve Manders
 Start: 4:04 pm   Time: 2:49   Attendance: 1015