Trailing 6-4 after eight and a half innings, the Tigers scored twice in the top of the ninth inning to tie the game. Philip Stringer singled and Russell Dixon walked before Tyler Johnston tied the game with a triple into the right field corner. Tech relievers Tim Ladd and Matt Wieters came out of the bullpen to prevent any further scoring. Ladd struck out the next two batters and Wieters struck out Josh Bell, who had two home runs in the game, for the third out of the inning.
The Tigers broke the tie in the top of the 11th inning. Josh Donaldson led off the inning with a single, took second base on a sacrifice bunt, moved to third on a groundout and scored the go-ahead on a two-out wild pitch.
Auburn reliever Michael Nix (3-1), one of six Tiger pitchers in the game, earned the win by working shutout four innings. Nix allowed one hit and issued two walks while striking out five. Nix teamed with relievers Grant Cardwell and John Madden to hold the Yellow Jackets to two hits over the final six innings.
Wieters (1-1) took the loss after allowing the game winning run to score on the wild pitch.
The Yellow Jackets had a scoring opportunity in the bottom of the 10th inning end on a strike out-throw out double play. Tech had four runners put out at third base or home plate in the game.
Bell went 2-for-3 with two home runs, his third and fourth of the year, and drove in three runs. Stringer and Johnstone had three hits each.
A two-out RBI single from Stringer gave Auburn a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning, but Georgia Tech responded with five runs in the bottom of the inning to make the score 5-1. Wieters opened the scoring with a his third home run of the year, a two-run shot, Wes Hodges drove in two runs with a single and Tyler Greene added an RBI single.
A two-run homer from Bell pulled the Tigers within 5-3 in the top of the fourth. Tech's Danny Payne answered with an RBI single in the bottom of the inning to make the score 6-3.
Bell's second home run of the game, a solo shot in the eighth, pulled Auburn to within two runs at 6-4.
Tech starter Ryan Turner worked six innings and allowed three runs while matching his career-high with six strikeouts but did not figure in the decision.
Georgia Tech visits Miami for a three-game ACC series this weekend in Coral Gables. The series begins Friday at 7 p.m., and the game will be televised by CSS.
2005 GEORGIA TECH BASEBALL
Auburn at #4 Georgia Tech
March 23, 2005 at Atlanta, Ga. (Russ Chandler Stadium)
Auburn 7 (17-7) Georgia Tech 6 (19-3)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
Tyler Johnstone 2b......... 5 0 3 2 Danny Payne cf............. 6 1 2 1
Bruce Edwards cf........... 6 0 0 0 Tyler Greene ss............ 5 1 1 1
Clete Thomas rf............ 6 0 0 0 Steven Blackwood lf........ 4 0 1 0
Karl Amonite 1b............ 3 1 0 0 Wes Hodges 3b.............. 6 0 1 2
Josh Bell dh............... 3 3 2 3 Jeremy Slayden dh.......... 5 1 1 0
Ben Sprague lf............. 5 0 2 0 Matt Wieters 1b............ 4 1 2 2
Joey Huskins c............. 4 0 0 0 Jeff Kindel rf............. 2 0 1 0
Philip Stringer 3b......... 5 1 3 1 Andy Hawranick c........... 4 1 1 0
Adam Stacey ss............. 3 0 0 0 Whit Robbins ph........... 0 0 0 0
Russell Dixon ph.......... 0 1 0 0 Nick Scherer c............ 0 0 0 0
Josh Donaldson 3b......... 1 1 1 0 Mike Trapani 2b............ 4 1 1 0
Mike Felix p............... 0 0 0 0 Ryan Turner p.............. 0 0 0 0
Cliff Mullins p........... 0 0 0 0 Tim Gustafson p........... 0 0 0 0
Jared Shore p............. 0 0 0 0 Tim Ladd p................ 0 0 0 0
John Madden p............. 0 0 0 0
Grant Cardwell p.......... 0 0 0 0
Michael Nix p............. 0 0 0 0
Totals..................... 41 7 11 6 Totals..................... 40 6 11 6
Score by Innings R H E
----------------------------------------------
Auburn.............. 010 200 012 01 - 7 11 1
Georgia Tech........ 050 100 000 00 - 6 11 0
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E - Stringer(10). DP - Auburn 2; Georgia Tech 1. LOB - Auburn 8; Georgia Tech 10. 2B
- Johnstone(6); Kindel, J.(9); Trapani, M.(1). 3B - Johnstone(2). HR - Bell 2(4);
Wieters, M.(3). SH - Johnstone(1); Trapani, M.(3). SB - Johnstone(10); Payne, D.
2(11); Greene, T.(11). CS - Johnstone(2); Kindel, J.(2).
Auburn IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO NP
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Mike Felix ................ 2.0 5 5 5 3 1 0 0 0 0 9 13 0 4 42
Cliff Mullins ............. 2.0 2 1 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 8 9 2 2 37
Jared Shore ............... 1.0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 1 1 17
John Madden ............... 1.0 1 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 4 5 0 1 25
Grant Cardwell ............ 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 4 2 0 15
Michael Nix W,3-1......... 4.0 1 0 0 2 6 0 0 0 1 12 14 2 3 63
Georgia Tech IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO NP
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ryan Turner ............... 6.0 6 3 3 4 6 0 0 0 0 22 26 3 8 87
Tim Gustafson BS .......... 2.0 4 3 3 1 3 0 0 0 0 10 11 1 2 45
Tim Ladd .................. 0.2 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 2 3 0 0 15
Matt Wieters L,1-1........ 2.1 1 1 1 0 2 1 0 0 0 7 8 2 3 27
WP - Wieters, M.(1). Inherited runners/scored: Ladd, T. 1/0; Wieters, M. 2/0.
Pitches/strikes: Felix 42/20; Mullins 37/23; Shore 17/11; Madden 25/15; Cardwell 15/8;
Nix 63/40; Turner, R. 87/52; Gustafson, T 45/26; Ladd, T. 15/8; Wieters, M. 27/18.
Strikeouts - Edwards 3; Thomas, C. 3; Bell; Sprague 2; Huskins; Stringer 2; Stacey;
Payne, D.; Greene, T. 4; Blackwood, S; Hodges, W.; Slayden, J.; Wieters, M.;
Hawranick, A; Trapani, M. 2. Walks - Amonite 2; Bell 2; Huskins; Dixon; Greene, T.;
Blackwood, S 2; Wieters, M.; Kindel, J. 3; Robbins, W..
Umpires - HP: Ken Couch 1B: Steve Manders 3B: Robert Hefner
Start: 7:05 pm Time: 3:28 Attendance: 1245