Saade went 5-for-5 with three singles, a double and a ninth-inning home run while Sherlock collected two hits, including his first home run of the season, against the Yellow Jackets. Sherlock’s three-run home run highlighted a four-run second inning for the Blue Devils.
Yellow Jacket starter Zach Von Tersch (2-1) lasted just two innings and suffered his first loss of the season after giving up the four runs, only three of which were earned, on three hits while walking two.
Derek Dietrich and Brad Feltes led Tech’s offense with two hits apiece.
Tech recorded five-consecutive hits for the first time this season to take a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Thomas Nichols doubled down the right field line, moved to third base on a failed pickoff attempt by Duke’s starting pitcher Grant Monroe, and scored on a ground-rule double by Charlie Blackmon for the first run of the game. Blackmon advanced to third on a base hit by Dietrich and scored Tech’s second run on an RBI single by Feltes.
Dietrich helped Tech narrow the gap to one with a towering home run to lead off the third inning, but Monroe retired nine of the next 11 batters he faced to help the Blue Devils maintain the lead.
Monroe (4-1) limited Tech to three runs on seven hits and three walks while fanning two in five innings to earn his fourth win of the season after the Blue Devils added three runs in the seventh inning to extend their lead to 7-3.
An eighth-inning suicide squeeze bunt by Sherlock pushed the score to 8-3 before Saade capped the scoring with a two-run home run in the ninth inning.
The Yellow Jackets will continue their six-game homestand this week when they host Georgia State and Alabama State Tuesday and Wednesday. Both games will begin at 6 p.m., and live stats can be found at Ramblinwreck.com.
2008 GEORGIA TECH BASEBALL
Duke at #17 Georgia Tech
March 23, 2008 at Atlanta, Ga. (Russ Chandler Stadium)
Duke 10
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Alex Hassan cf/p......... 4 1 0 0 1 0 2 1 0
Matt Williams c.......... 4 1 1 2 1 1 5 1 0
Jeremy Gould lf.......... 5 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0
Kyle Kreick 1b........... 5 1 0 0 0 0 8 0 1
Gabriel Saade 2b......... 5 2 5 3 0 0 2 3 0
Jonathan Nicolla dh...... 4 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 2
John Bunder cf.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ryan McCurdy 3b.......... 5 2 1 0 0 0 1 1 1
Jake Lemmerman ss........ 3 0 0 1 0 0 2 3 2
Tim Sherlock rf.......... 3 2 2 4 0 1 5 0 0
Grant Monroe p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Michael Ness p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Totals................... 38 10 11 10 2 4 27 10 6
Georgia Tech 3
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Jeff Rowland cf.......... 2 0 1 0 2 0 2 0 0
Thomas Nichols 2b........ 3 1 1 0 1 1 3 2 1
Charlie Blackmon rf...... 4 1 1 1 0 0 2 0 2
Derek Dietrich ss........ 4 1 2 1 0 0 1 5 0
Brad Feltes 3b........... 4 0 2 1 0 0 2 2 0
Chase Burnette dh........ 4 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1
Tony Plagman 1b.......... 3 0 0 0 1 0 9 0 2
Jay Dantzler lf.......... 3 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0
Jeff Ussery ph.......... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Cole Leonida c........... 3 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 0
Patrick Long ph......... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Zach Von Tersch p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kevin Jacob p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Deck McGuire p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Taylor Wood p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Chris Hicks p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 32 3 7 3 4 4 27 11 6
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Duke................ 040 000 312 - 10 11 1
Georgia Tech........ 201 000 000 - 3 7 4
-------------------------------------------
E - Monroe, G.; Nichols, T.; Feltes, B.; Von Tersch; McGuire, D.. DP -
Georgia Tech 1. LOB - Duke 6; Georgia Tech 6. 2B - Saade, G.; Sherlock, T.;
Nichols, T.; Blackmon, C.. HR - Saade, G.; Sherlock, T.; Dietrich, D.. HBP -
Nicolla, J.. SH - Lemmerman, J; Sherlock, T.. SB - Hassan, A.. CS - Rowland,
J.; Plagman, T..
Duke IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP
--------------------------------------------------
Grant Monroe........ 5.0 7 3 3 3 2 21 24 97
Michael Ness........ 3.0 0 0 0 0 1 9 9 27
Alex Hassan......... 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 2 3 15
Georgia Tech IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP
--------------------------------------------------
Zach Von Tersch..... 2.0 3 4 3 2 0 9 11 40
Kevin Jacob......... 4.0 5 3 1 0 4 18 18 75
Deck McGuire........ 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 4 4 11
Taylor Wood......... 1.0 1 1 1 0 0 2 4 9
Chris Hicks......... 1.0 1 2 0 0 0 5 6 11
Jacob faced three batters in the 7th.
Win - Monroe (4-1). Loss - Von Tersch (2-1)
WP - Wood, T.. HBP - by Hicks, C. (Nicolla, J.). Inherited runners/scored:
McGuire, D. 1/1. Pitches/strikes: Monroe, G. 97/58; Ness, M. 27/19; Hassan, A.
15/8; Von Tersch 40/20; Jacob, K. 75/50; McGuire, D. 11/10; Wood, T. 9/6; Hicks,
C. 11/7.
Umpires - HP: Tim O'Toole 1B: Frank Sylvester 3B: Doug Lee
Start: 1:03 pm Time: Attendance:
Weather: P.Cloudy, 54 deg, Wind N-7mph