After Maryland second baseman Steve Braun hit his first home run of the season to break a 3-3 tie in the top of the ninth inning, the Yellow Jackets responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame to win their fourth-straight game.
Patrick Long reached base on a fielder's choice in the bottom of the ninth, moved to second on a single by Jeff Ussery and scored on an RBI single by Danny Payne to tie the game before Murton pulled the first pitch that he saw from Terrapin relief ace Brett Cecil through the left side to plate Ussery, who scored from second on the play.
Brad Rulon (1-1) picked up his first win of the season by tossing 0.2 innings, striking out one. Yellow Jacket starter David Duncan lasted 8.1 innings, giving up four runs on 12 hits while striking out six, but did not figure into the decision for the second-straight weekend.
The Georgia Tech pitching staff has now held its opponent to less than five runs in seven-straight games, and nine of the last 10.
Payne, Long and Ussery all collected two hits on the evening for the Jackets.
A two-out double by Gerry Spessard scored Mike Murphy in the first inning to give the Terps a 1-0 lead, and Maryland added another run in the top of the second when Braun's bunt single plated Dan Melvin, who had reached earlier on a fielder's choice.
Tech answered with three runs in the bottom of the second to take a one-run lead, 3-2. Matt Wieters walked to lead off the inning, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Wally Crancer and scored on a double by Tony Plagman. Chris House's bunt single moved Plagman to third, and the Yellow Jacket first baseman scored on a balk by Maryland starter Casey Baron. A single up the middle by Long moved House to third, and the Tech leftfielder came around to score on a single by Payne for the Jackets' third run of the game.
Baron pitched well, but did not figure into the decision, giving up three runs on seven hits in 7.1 innings of work. Cecil (3-3) took the loss, allowing two runs on three hits in 1.0 IP.
The Terrapins tied the contest in the fourth inning when Braun pulled a double down the leftfield line to score Wink Nolan, who had reached earlier on an infield single.
The Jackets and Terps continue the series Saturday in a game that is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
2007 GEORGIA TECH BASEBALL
Maryland at Georgia Tech
March 30, 2007 at Atlanta, Ga. (Russ Chandler Stadium)
Maryland 4 (18-9,5-5 ACC)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB Avg.
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Joe Palumbo lf........... 5 0 2 0 0 1 2 0 0 .352
AJ Casario dh............ 4 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 4 .356
Mike Moss ph............ 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .455
Mike Murphy 3b........... 4 1 1 0 0 1 0 4 0 .301
Gerry Spessard 1b........ 4 0 2 1 0 1 15 0 0 .237
Chad Durakis c........... 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 .322
Dan Melvin ss............ 3 1 0 0 0 0 3 2 0 .210
Wink Nolan rf............ 4 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 .273
Nick Jowers cf.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .304
Dan Benick cf/rf......... 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 .293
Steve Braun 2b........... 4 1 3 3 0 0 1 6 1 .267
Casey Baron p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 -
Brett Cecil p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 -
Totals................... 37 4 12 4 0 7 25 15 7
Georgia Tech 5 (17-11,6-4 ACC)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB Avg.
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Danny Payne cf........... 5 0 2 2 0 0 2 0 2 .412
Luke Murton rf........... 5 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 2 .277
Michael Fisher ss........ 3 0 1 0 1 0 1 3 0 .350
Matt Wieters c........... 2 1 0 0 2 0 7 3 0 .306
Wally Crancer dh......... 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .351
Tony Plagman 1b.......... 4 1 1 1 0 0 12 0 2 .281
Chris House lf........... 3 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 .208
Patrick Long 3b.......... 4 1 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 .279
Jeff Ussery 2b........... 4 1 2 0 0 0 3 2 0 .232
David Duncan p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -
Brad Rulon p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -
Totals................... 33 5 10 4 4 1 27 11 8
Score by Innings R H E
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Maryland............ 110 100 001 - 4 12 1
Georgia Tech........ 030 000 002 - 5 10 1
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One out when winning run scored.
E - Melvin, D(4); Fisher, M.(8). DP - Maryland 1. LOB - Maryland 7; Georgia
Tech 8. 2B - Spessard, G(4); Braun, S(3); Plagman, T.(2); Ussery, J.(5).
HR - Braun, S(1). HBP - Melvin, D. SH - Crancer, W.(4). SB - Fisher, M.(5);
Wieters, M.(1). CS - Palumbo, J 2(2).
Maryland IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP ERA
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Casey Baron......... 7.1 7 3 3 3 0 27 31 107 3.60
Brett Cecil......... 1.0 3 2 2 1 1 6 7 28 3.75
Georgia Tech IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP ERA
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David Duncan........ 8.1 12 4 4 0 6 36 37 99 3.54
Brad Rulon.......... 0.2 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 4 5.48
Win - Rulon, B. (1-1). Loss - Cecil, B (3-3). Save - None.
WP - Duncan, D.(3). HBP - by Duncan, D. (Melvin, D). BK - Baron, C(2). Inherited
runners/scored: Cecil, B 2/0; Rulon, B. 1/0. Pitches/strikes: Baron, C 107/69;
Cecil, B 28/19; Duncan, D. 99/71; Rulon, B. 4/3.
Umpires - HP: Bruce Ravan 1B: Doug Lee 3B: Scott Erby
Start: 7:01 pm Time: 2:23 Attendance: 1385