Burns (2-1) held the Eagles to just two runs, only one of which was earned, on seven hits in eight innings of work before Will Hirsch closed out the game with a perfect 1-2-3 ninth inning.
Payne and Fisher both had 3-for-5 performances on the night, with Payne scoring two runs and driving in one while Fisher drove in two runs and scored another. Luke Murton and Patrick Long each went 2-for-4 with two runs and one RBI against the Eagles.
The Jackets jumped on the Eagles early, scoring a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning on RBI singles by Fisher and Matt Wieters to take a 2-0 lead. Payne, Murton, Fisher and Wieters tallied four-straight hits to lead off the inning before Georgia Southern starter Josh Lairsey recorded an out on a sacrifice bunt by Wally Crancer.
Patrick Long singled to lead off the second inning, advanced to second on a sacrifice by Nick Scherer, and scored on an RBI single by Payne to push the Jackets' lead to 3-0 before the Eagles scored in the top of the third on an RBI single by Mike Economos, which plated Matt Miller and pulled Georgia Southern to within two runs, 3-1.
After GSU first baseman Jeremiah Parker reached base on a fielding error and scored on an RBI double by Brian Pierce in the top of the fourth inning, Tech answered with a run in the bottom of the frame to push the score to 4-2. With runners on first and second, Murton executed a hit-and-run with a two-out single through the left side which scored Patrick Long, who had reached earlier on a fielder's choice.
Tech extended its lead to 5-2 in the fifth inning on an RBI double by Jeff Ussery before exploding for five runs in the sixth to push the score to 10-2 for the final eight-run margin. The inning was highlighted by a pair of RBI singles by Fisher and Long, a sacrifice fly by Crancer and a triple by Payne.
Lairsey (0-1) took the loss for Georgia Southern, giving up five runs on seven hits in four innings of work.
The Jackets and Eagles conclude the midweek series Wednesday afternoon in a 3 p.m. game that is scheduled to be broadcast on SportsSouth. Tech will look to even the season series with the Eagles, as the Jackets are now 1-2 vs. Georgia Southern in 2007.
2007 GEORGIA TECH BASEBALL
Georgia Southern at Georgia Tech
March 27, 2007 at Atlanta, Ga. (Russ Chandler Stadium)
Georgia Southern 2 (16-13)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
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Jeremy Beckham 2b........ 4 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 1
Matt Miller cf........... 4 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 0
A.J. Wirnsberger 3b...... 4 0 2 0 0 2 0 1 0
Mike Economos rf......... 4 0 1 1 0 1 4 0 1
Griffin Benedict c....... 4 0 0 0 0 0 9 2 3
Jeremiah Parker 1b....... 4 1 1 0 0 1 6 1 0
Kyle Blackburn dh........ 3 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0
Chris Shehan ph......... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Phillip Porter lf........ 3 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 1
Chris Hollis ph......... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Brian Pierce ss.......... 3 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 0
Josh Lairsey p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Charlie Strohecker p.... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Blake Nation p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Burt Barto p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Mike Chiciak p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 35 2 7 2 0 11 24 7 6
Georgia Tech 10 (15-11)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
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Danny Payne cf........... 5 2 3 1 0 1 2 0 0
Luke Murton rf........... 4 2 2 1 0 2 1 0 0
Michael Fisher ss........ 5 1 3 2 0 1 0 2 3
Matt Wieters 1b.......... 3 2 1 1 2 0 10 0 1
Wally Crancer dh......... 3 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0
Curtis Dupart lf......... 4 1 0 0 1 2 3 0 0
Jeff Ussery 2b........... 4 0 1 1 1 2 0 4 2
Patrick Long 3b.......... 4 2 2 1 0 0 0 3 1
Nick Scherer c........... 2 0 0 0 1 1 11 0 2
Eddie Burns p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Will Hirsch p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 34 10 12 8 5 10 27 9 9
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Georgia Southern.... 001 100 000 - 2 7 2
Georgia Tech........ 210 115 00X - 10 12 1
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E - Lairsey(2); Nation(1); Long, P.(7). LOB - Ga. Southern 6; Georgia Tech
9. 2B - Wirnsberger(10); Pierce(5); Fisher, M.(12); Ussery, J.(4). 3B -
Payne, D.(3). HBP - Murton, L.. SH - Crancer, W.(3); Scherer, N.(1). SF -
Crancer, W.(1). SB - Payne, D.(10); Murton, L.(1).
Georgia Southern IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP
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Josh Lairsey........ 4.0 7 5 5 3 5 17 22 89
Charlie Strohecker.. 1.1 3 3 2 0 1 7 8 27
Blake Nation........ 0.2 1 2 0 2 0 3 6 16
Burt Barto.......... 1.0 1 0 0 0 2 4 4 19
Mike Chiciak........ 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 3 3 11
Georgia Tech IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP
--------------------------------------------------
Eddie Burns......... 8.0 7 2 1 0 10 32 32 105
Will Hirsch......... 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 3 3 11
Lairsey faced one batter in the 5th.
Win - Burns, E. (2-1). Loss - Lairsey (0-1). Save - None.
WP - Nation(2). HBP - by Strohecker (Murton, L.). Inherited runners/scored:
Strohecker 1/1; Nation 2/2. Pitches/strikes: Lairsey 89/58; Strohecker 27/20;
Nation 16/5; Barto 19/15; Chiciak 11/7; Burns, E. 105/80; Hirsch, W. 11/6.
Umpires - HP: Craig Mirr 1B: Tony Thompson 3B: Ken Couch
Start: 7:03 pm Time: 2:26 Attendance: 1386