Reliever Luke Miller (2-0) was credited with the win, working 1.1 scoreless innings. Barnes earned his first save of the year by working the final four innings and not allowing a run or a hit.
Hall finished 3-for-5 with a triple and three RBI. Tim Hallum had three hits and drove in two runs, and Barrett Shaft added two hits.
The Yellow Jackets built a 5-2 lead through the first five innings. Tech scored one in the second inning on a two-out RBI single from Whit Robbins, scored three runs in the third on an RBI double from Steven Blackwood and a sacrifice fly by Wes Hodges, and added an unearned run in the fourth.
Western Carolina scored four unearned runs in the fifth inning to take a 6-5 lead. With two outs and the bases loaded, Tech reliever Ryan Turner struck out Trey McDaniel, but a passed ball by catcher Matt Wieters allowed McDaniel to reach base and Shaft to come home with the first run of the inning. Hall cleared the bases with a three run triple that dropped just of the reach of a diving Jeremy Slayden in right field.
From there, the Catamount bullpen took over and held the ACC's top hitting team in check. The Yellow Jackets, batting .356 at a team entering Tuesday's game, were held hitless and managed just five baserunners from the fifth through the end of the game.
The Catamounts added two insurance runs in the top of the eighth to extend the lead to 8-5. Chris Davis led off the inning with a double and scored on Hallum's one-out RBI single, while an RBI double from Jared Greenwood scored Hallum with the second run of the inning.
Tech had a final opportunity in the bottom of the ninth inning when Michael Fisher reached on an error and Tyler Greene walked to bring the tying run to the plate with one out. But Barnes induced a double play ground ball from Blackwood to end the game and preserve the victory.
Turner (2-1) took the loss after allowing six runs, only two of which were earned, on seven hits in four innings.
Tech starter Jason Neighborgall, getting live action after a tough outing last Friday at Miami instead of throwing between-start bullpen, worked a scoreless first inning and struck out the side.
Slayden had a second inning double to extend his career-long hitting streak to 15 games.
Georgia Tech hosts Maryland for a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series this weekend at Russ Chandler Stadium. The series begins on Friday at 7 p.m.
2005 GEORGIA TECH BASEBALL
Western Carolina at #1 Georgia Tech
March 29, 2005 at Atlanta, Ga. (Russ Chandler Stadium)
Western Carolina 8 (15-8) Georgia Tech 5 (21-5)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
Barrett Shaft cf........... 6 1 2 0 Danny Payne cf............. 4 2 1 0
Tim Hallam ss.............. 4 1 3 2 Tyler Greene ss............ 4 1 2 0
Jared Greenwood c.......... 4 1 1 2 Steven Blackwood lf........ 5 1 1 1
Steven Strausbaugh rf...... 4 1 1 0 Wes Hodges 3b.............. 2 0 0 1
Trey McDaniel 1b........... 4 1 1 0 Jeremy Slayden rf.......... 4 1 1 0
Nate Hall 3b............... 5 0 3 3 Jeff Kindel dh............. 3 0 0 0
Grey Gregory dh............ 4 0 0 0 Matt Wieters c............. 4 0 0 0
Brandon Zollman lf......... 5 1 2 0 Whit Robbins 1b............ 3 0 1 1
Jason Haynes 2b............ 3 1 1 0 Michael Fisher 2b.......... 3 0 0 0
Chris Davis 2b............ 2 1 1 0 Jason Neighborgall p....... 0 0 0 0
Bryan Tupper p............. 0 0 0 0 Ryan Turner p............. 0 0 0 0
Luke Miller p............. 0 0 0 0 Tim Gustafson p........... 0 0 0 0
Brian Barnes p............ 0 0 0 0 Tim Ladd p................ 0 0 0 0
Jordan Crews p............ 0 0 0 0
Totals..................... 41 8 15 7 Totals..................... 32 5 6 3
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Western Carolina.... 002 040 020 - 8 15 4
Georgia Tech........ 013 100 000 - 5 6 0
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E - Hallam(8); Hall(7); Haynes 2(3). DP - W. Carolina 2; Georgia Tech 1. LOB - W.
Carolina 11; Georgia Tech 7. 2B - Hallam(6); Greenwood(8); Hall 2(5); Davis(7);
Payne, D.(5); Blackwood, S(9); Slayden, J.(6). HBP - Hodges, W.. SH - Fisher, M.(1).
SF - Hodges, W.(2). SB - Greene, T.(12). CS - Strausbaugh(3).
Western Carolina IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO NP
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bryan Tupper .............. 3.2 6 5 3 2 3 0 0 0 0 16 19 2 6 80
Luke Miller W,2-0......... 1.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 4 5 1 2 20
Brian Barnes S,1.......... 4.0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 12 15 5 5 56
Georgia Tech IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO NP
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jason Neighborgall ........ 1.0 1 0 0 0 3 2 0 0 0 4 4 0 0 17
Ryan Turner L,2-1......... 4.0 7 6 2 2 4 1 0 0 0 19 21 4 4 73
Tim Gustafson ............. 2.0 4 1 1 2 2 1 0 0 0 9 11 2 1 59
Tim Ladd .................. 0.1 2 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 3 0 1 16
Jordan Crews .............. 1.2 1 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 1 6 7 0 3 19
WP - Neighborgall 2(9); Turner, R.(4); Gustafson, T(1); Ladd, T.(4). HBP - by Miller
(Hodges, W.). PB - Wieters, M.(1). Inherited runners/scored: Miller 1/1; Ladd, T. 1/1;
Crews, J. 1/0. Pitches/strikes: Tupper 80/46; Miller 20/12; Barnes 56/35; Neighborgall
17/12; Turner, R. 73/46; Gustafson, T 59/32; Ladd, T. 16/8; Crews, J. 19/11.
Strikeouts - Shaft; Greenwood; Strausbaugh 3; McDaniel; Gregory 2; Zollman; Haynes
2; Payne, D.; Blackwood, S; Hodges, W.; Slayden, J.. Walks - Hallam; Greenwood;
Strausbaugh; McDaniel; Gregory; Payne, D.; Greene, T.; Kindel, J.; Robbins, W..
Umpires - HP: Tony Thompson 1B: Ken Couch 3B: Steve Manders
Start: 7:05 pm Time: 2:54 Attendance: 1160