Charlie Blackmon and Luke Murton led the Yellow Jackets with three hits apiece while Plagman and Derek Dietrich paced Tech with four RBI each. Plagman, Nichols, Blackmon, Murton, Dietrich and Chris House all hit home runs in the game.
Deck McGuire (7-0) picked up the victory by holding Mercer to two runs on four hits in six innings of work. He also fanned six and walked none.
The Bears took a 1-0 lead on a solo home run by Joe Winker to lead off the bottom of the second inning, but Blackmon tied the game in the top of the third inning by hitting his fifth home run of the season over the right field wall.
After an RBI single by Tyler Brown gave the Bears a 2-1 edge in the bottom of the third, Plagman and Nichols hit home runs in the fourth to give Tech the lead for good, 4-2.
A three-run home run by Dietrich pushed Tech’s lead to 7-2 in the fifth inning before the Jackets took command of the game with a seven-run outburst in the sixth. Tech scored its first seven runs of the game on home runs before Chase Burnette scored from second base on a fielding error by Mercer shortstop Billy Shaughnessy in the top of the sixth. The Jackets also scored on an RBI single by Jeff Rowland, a run-scoring groundout by Dietrich, an RBI double from Murton and home runs by Plagman and Nichols.
A seventh-inning home run by House and eighth-inning homer from Murton capped the Jackets’ scoring.
After giving up the two runs over the first three innings, McGuire faced the minimum through the next three frames before turning the ball over to the bullpen.
The Bears scored twice in the seventh on a pair of solo home runs, once in the eighth on a balk, and four times in the ninth before Dietrich forced Mike Armstrong into a game-ending groundout.
Mercer reliever Justice French (1-3) took the loss, giving up three runs on three hits in a third of an inning of work.
The Yellow Jackets return to Atlantic Coast Conference action this weekend when they host Wake Forest for a three-game series beginning Friday at 7 p.m. The first two games of the series will be televised, while the finale can be viewed on ACC Select (http://acc.playonsports.tv/gatech/).
2008 GEORGIA TECH BASEBALL
Georgia Tech at Mercer
April 22, 2008 at Macon, Ga. (Claude Smith Field)
Georgia Tech 16 (29-12)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB Avg.
------------------------------------------------------------
Charlie Blackmon rf...... 4 3 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 .376
Chris House ph/rf....... 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 .261
Jeff Rowland cf.......... 3 2 2 1 1 0 3 0 0 .351
Jay Dantzler ph/cf...... 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .286
Derek Dietrich ss/p...... 6 1 1 4 0 0 2 2 0 .329
Luke Murton dh/1b........ 5 3 3 2 1 1 2 0 1 .387
Tony Plagman 1b.......... 4 2 2 4 0 1 6 0 0 .273
Jason Garofalo ph/2b.... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .167
Brad Feltes 3b........... 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 .276
Patrick Long 3b......... 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 .205
Thomas Nichols 2b........ 4 2 2 2 0 1 0 2 1 .294
Jeff Ussery 2b/ss....... 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 .222
Chase Burnette lf........ 4 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 2 .259
Cole Leonida c........... 5 1 1 0 0 0 9 2 0 .182
Deck McGuire p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -
Brandon Cumpton p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -
Taylor Wood p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -
Totals................... 44 16 17 15 5 4 27 9 7
Mercer 9 (18-25)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB Avg.
------------------------------------------------------------
MCCARTY,Tyler 2b......... 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 0 .297
LANGLEY,Michael 2b...... 2 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 .250
BROWN,Tyler rf........... 3 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 .308
CARROLL,Thomas rf....... 2 1 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 .311
ARMSTRONG,Mike 1b........ 5 0 0 0 0 2 12 0 1 .337
WINKER,Joe lf............ 2 1 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 .345
BENTLEY,Richard ph/lf... 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 .333
SHAUGHNESSY,Billy ss..... 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 3 0 .344
KARWATT,Steve ph/3b..... 2 1 1 1 0 1 2 0 2 .234
DORTCH,John cf........... 3 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 .335
MORELAND,John dh......... 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 .262
DAUGHERTY,John ph....... 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 .286
STUART,Casey c........... 2 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 .294
BUTTS,Jason ph/c........ 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 .233
DIMAURO,Nick 3b/ss....... 4 3 3 1 0 0 1 2 0 .311
LOWEY,Josh p............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -
FRENCH,Justice p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500
GUYER,Lath p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -
WEBSTER,Boone p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -
T. ODOM,J p............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -
SHAW,Michael p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 -
BEDROSIAN,Kyle p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -
Totals................... 37 9 11 8 1 10 27 9 3
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Georgia Tech........ 001 337 110 - 16 17 0
Mercer.............. 011 000 214 - 9 11 1
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E - SHAUGHNESSY(9). DP - Mercer 1. LOB - Georgia Tech 7; Mercer 3. 2B -
Murton, L. 2(16); Burnette, C.(1). HR - Blackmon, C.(5); House, C.(1);
Dietrich, D.(12); Murton, L.(9); Plagman, T. 2(11); Nichols, T. 2(3);
CARROLL(1); WINKER(3); KARWATT(2); DAUGHERTY(1). HBP - Plagman, T.; DORTCH.
SB - Blackmon, C.(17); Rowland, J.(15); SHAUGHNESSY(9). CS - SHAUGHNESSY(3).
Georgia Tech IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP ERA
--------------------------------------------------------
Deck McGuire........ 6.0 4 2 2 0 6 21 21 75 3.25
Brandon Cumpton..... 1.0 2 2 2 0 0 5 5 17 6.21
Taylor Wood......... 1.0 2 1 1 1 3 5 6 23 5.68
Derek Dietrich...... 1.0 3 4 4 0 1 6 7 22 36.00
Mercer IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP ERA
--------------------------------------------------------
LOWEY,Josh.......... 3.0 2 1 1 1 1 11 12 35 4.22
FRENCH,Justice...... 0.1 3 3 3 1 0 4 5 19 6.66
GUYER,Lath.......... 1.2 3 3 3 0 1 7 8 20 7.29
WEBSTER,Boone....... 0.1 4 5 4 0 0 6 6 15 7.61
T. ODOM,J........... 0.2 2 2 2 0 1 4 4 15 5.40
SHAW,Michael........ 2.0 2 2 2 1 1 8 9 34 6.57
BEDROSIAN,Kyle...... 1.0 1 0 0 2 0 4 6 16 7.62
Win - McGuire, D. (7-0). Loss - FRENCH (1-3). Save - None.
WP - Dietrich, D.(1); McGuire, D. 2(9); WEBSTER(6); SHAW(5); BEDROSIAN(4).
HBP - by GUYER (Plagman, T.); by Dietrich, D. (DORTCH). BK - Wood, T.(1);
GUYER(1). PB - Leonida, C.(2). Inherited runners/scored: GUYER 1/0; ODOM 1/1.
Pitches/strikes: McGuire, D. 75/48; Cumpton, B. 17/9; Wood, T. 23/12; Dietrich,
D. 22/13; LOWEY 35/23; FRENCH 19/8; GUYER 20/15; WEBSTER 15/9; ODOM 15/10; SHAW
34/19; BEDROSIAN 16/6.
Umpires - HP: Kevin Ellsey 1B: Vic Correll 3B: John Doe
Start: 6:02 pm Time: 2:38 Attendance: 827
Weather: Sunny, 79 deg, Wind-N-6mph