The Yellow Jackets and Tigers split the two-game regular season series, with each school winning on the opponents’ home field.
Starter Ryan Turner improved to 3-1, working 5.1 innings and allowing two runs on six hits. He issued three walks and struck out two batters before yielding to the bullpen duo of Gustafson and Wieters.
Gustafson pitched 2.2 innings, holding the Tigers to just one hit and three baserunners. Wieters finished up with a 1-2-3 ninth inning to earn his third save of the season.
Each team had just seven hits in the game, and Tech and Auburn combined for just four hits over the final four innings of the game.
Reliever Grant Cardwell (1-2), one of six Auburn pitchers in the game, took the loss despite allowing just one run on two hits in three innings.
Danny Payne led off the game with a triple and scored on Blackwood’s RBI groundout to give the Yellow Jackets a 1-0 lead, but the Tigers answered with a two-out, two-run double from Jeff Boutwell in the bottom of the first inning. A bases loaded RBI groundout from Payne tied the game at 2-2 in the second inning.
Tech took a 3-2 lead in the top of the third on Blackwood’s second RBI groundout of the game. The Yellow Jackets had a chance to add to the lead in the fifth inning when they loaded the bases with one out. But Cardwell struck out Jeremy Slayden and Jeff Kindel to end the threat.
Auburn had a scoring opportunity in the bottom of the seventh inning when the Tigers put runners on first and second bases with no outs. But Tech reliever Tim Gustafson struck out Clete Thomas and got a double play ground ball from Josh Bell to escape the jam.
Georgia Tech returns to Atlanta to host Winthrop for a three-game series beginning on Friday at 7 p.m.
2005 GEORGIA TECH BASEBALL
#3 Georgia Tech at #16 Auburn
April 5, 2005 at Auburn, Ala. (Plainsman Park)
Georgia Tech 3 (24-6) Auburn 2 (21-11)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
Danny Payne cf............. 5 1 2 1 Tyler Johnstone 2b......... 2 0 0 0
Tyler Greene ss............ 4 1 1 0 Clete Thomas rf............ 4 0 1 0
Steven Blackwood lf........ 4 0 1 2 Josh Bell c................ 3 1 1 0
Wes Hodges 3b.............. 2 0 1 0 Karl Amonite 1b............ 3 1 0 0
Jeremy Slayden dh.......... 4 0 0 0 Jeff Boutwell lf........... 4 0 4 2
Whit Robbins 1b........... 0 0 0 0 Josh Donaldson 3b.......... 4 0 1 0
Jeff Kindel rf............. 4 1 1 0 Philip Stringer dh......... 2 0 0 0
Matt Wieters 1b/p.......... 3 0 0 0 Russell Dixon ph/dh....... 2 0 0 0
Andy Hawranick c........... 4 0 1 0 Adam Stacey ss............. 3 0 0 0
Mike Trapani 2b............ 3 0 0 0 Joey Huskins ph........... 1 0 0 0
Ryan Turner p.............. 0 0 0 0 Bruce Edwards cf........... 3 0 0 0
Tim Gustafson p........... 0 0 0 0 Cliff Mullins p............ 0 0 0 0
Grant Cardwell p.......... 0 0 0 0
Clarence Nicely p......... 0 0 0 0
Josh Blake p.............. 0 0 0 0
Jared Shore p............. 0 0 0 0
Michael Nix p............. 0 0 0 0
Totals..................... 33 3 7 3 Totals..................... 31 2 7 2
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Georgia Tech........ 111 000 000 - 3 7 2
Auburn.............. 200 000 000 - 2 7 2
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E - Hodges, W.(7); Wieters, M.(2); Donaldson(4); Cardwell(1). DP - Georgia Tech 3.
LOB - Georgia Tech 9; Auburn 7. 2B - Greene, T.(8); Boutwell(3). 3B - Payne, D.(2).
HBP - Johnstone. SH - Blackwood, S(2). SB - Greene, T.(14). CS - Payne, D.(3).
Georgia Tech IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO NP
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ryan Turner W,3-1......... 5.1 6 2 2 3 2 0 0 0 0 20 23 8 4 87
Tim Gustafson ............. 2.2 1 0 0 1 2 0 0 1 0 8 10 1 3 42
Matt Wieters S,3.......... 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 3 3 1 0 14
Auburn IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO NP
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cliff Mullins ............. 2.0 3 2 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 8 10 1 3 34
Grant Cardwell L,1-2...... 3.0 2 1 1 2 5 0 0 0 0 11 14 0 4 63
Clarence Nicely ........... 1.2 1 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 6 7 3 0 34
Josh Blake ................ 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 2 1 13
Jared Shore ............... 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 5
Michael Nix ............... 1.0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 4 4 1 0 14
HBP - by Gustafson, T (Johnstone). Inherited runners/scored: Gustafson, T 1/0; Blake
1/0. Pitches/strikes: Turner, R. 87/52; Gustafson, T 42/26; Wieters, M. 14/7; Mullins
34/18; Cardwell 63/43; Nicely 34/19; Blake 13/9; Shore 5/4; Nix 14/9.
Strikeouts - Payne, D. 2; Greene, T. 2; Blackwood, S; Slayden, J.; Kindel, J. 2;
Hawranick, A; Trapani, M.; Thomas, C.; Amonite 2; Huskins; Edwards 2. Walks -
Greene, T.; Hodges, W. 2; Wieters, M.; Trapani, M.; Johnstone; Bell; Amonite;
Edwards.
Umpires - HP: Steve Manders 1B: Ken Couch 3B: Tony Thompson
Start: 7:06 p.m. CST Time: 2:49 Attendance: 3968