Baseball vaults to No. 1 in country

The No. 1 baseball team (21-5, 11-1 ACC) went 4-3 in action over Spring break. The Jackets extended their win streak over ACC foes to 25 after sweeping N.C. State, before having their streak snapped by No. 12 University of Miami. Tech rebounded to take the remaining two games of the series in Coral Gables.

The Jackets have improved in the polls after a strong first half of the season. Tech is currently ranked No. 1 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Poll as well as the Collegiate Baseball Poll. The Jackets are ranked No. 3 by Baseball America and No. 4 by the Coaches' Poll.

The opening series of the break with N.C. State was the eighth consecutive sweep of an ACC opponent.

The Jackets won the opening game of the series 9-5. Tech had a 3-2 lead going into the bottom of the seventh inning before the bats woke up and the team scored two runs in that inning and four more in the eighth.

The Jackets won the second game behind the strong arm of Lee Hyde, who worked a career high seven scoreless innings and gave up only four hits and two walks while striking out six.

Hyde was given a four run lead in the first three innings of work, but the Jackets missed a few key opportunities to blow open the game early.

Jeremy Slayden had an RBI single to drive in the first run of the inning, but Jeff Kindel ended the first inning by grounding into a double play with the bases loaded.

The Jackets put one more on the board in the second, and Kindel made up for hitting into the double play with a two-run homer in the bottom of the third inning.

Tech finished off the sweep with a come-from-behind effort in the third game of the series. The Jackets scored six runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to move ahead 8-5, but the Wolfpack responded by tying up the game in the top of the sixth inning. They scored two more runs to put the Jackets down 10-8 going into the bottom of the ninth. Slayden and Kindel led off the inning with singles before Weiters doubled in a run to bring the score to 10-9. Tyler Greene hit a two-RBI single to end the game and give the Jackets the victory.

"To be down on Sunday against one of the best closers in the country [and win] was just a big accomplishment by our team," Hall said. "We played very well in the ACC so far."

In a midweek contest, Tech lost to Auburn after giving up a 6-3 lead after seven innings. The Tigers opened up scoring in the top of the second inning, but the Jackets responded by putting five runs on the board in the bottom half of the inning. The Tigers tied the game with two runs in the top of the ninth and broke the score in the top of the 11th when Jeff Donaldson scored on a two out wild pitch.

"I think that Auburn is a very good team," Head Coach Danny Hall said. "Last weekend, they went to [No. 4] LSU and won two of three. It's disappointing to lose a game like that when you feel you had won or had a very good chance of winning, but give Auburn credit for taking advantage of the ball bouncing their way. They have a great stadium and will have a lot of fans, but we are going over there to play them and see if we can even the score."

Miami took the opening game of the series last weekend, but the Jackets rebounded to take the final two and improve to 11-1 in the conference.

The Hurricanes opened up by scoring nine runs in the first inning on only one hit and saw Jason Neighborgall in his worst outing of the year by far. Neighborgall gave up seven runs on no hits while walking six and hitting one. He only retired one batter, and he threw three wild pitches.

"Getting blown out on Friday night like we did and then bouncing back to win the series shows a lot of character from our guys," Hall said. "Anytime you can win two games down there against [Miami] you have to be proud of your team."

The Jackets won the second game of the series 17-7. In the process of the game, the Jackets managed to record 22 hits and tied the record for the most given up in a game by the Hurricanes. The Jackets batted around three times including a six-run 7th inning that broke the game open and gave the team a decisive 16-6 lead.

Sunday's rubber match had the characteristics of what the entire series was expected to be like. The Jackets needed a ninth inning rally to win 11-10. The Hurricanes scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to take a 7-5 lead and would extend the lead to 9-6 at the end of the seventh. The Jackets rallied with one run in the eighth to close the gap to 9-6.

Steven Blackwood led off the inning with a walk and Slayden was hit by a pitch to put the tying run on. Kindel tied the game with a two-run RBI double. Weiters gave the Jackets the lead hitting a two-run homer down the right field line.

The Hurricanes' rally was cut short as they were only able to score one run in their half of the ninth and fell one run short.

Tyler Greene had his career long 18-game hitting streak snapped after going 0-5 in the game.

With the wins over spring break Hall set a new school record for wins by a head coach. Hall recorded his 505th victory in his 12th season with the Jackets. Hall passes current Miami head coach Jim Morris who went 504-244-1 from 1982-93.

"In a way it's ironic that it's against Miami and a guy that I think really meant a lot to build the program at Georgia Tech to where it is today," Hall said. "I think the biggest thing for me beyond getting that 505th win was that we won the series, and we are in first place in the league."

After being ranked as the No.1 team in the nation, the Jackets fell to the Western Carolina Catamounts on Tuesday 8-5.

The Jackets led off scoring with one in the second, but Western Carolina responded with two runs in the top of third inning to take the lead.

The Jackets rallied with three runs of their own in their half of the inning. Payne led off the inning with a walk, and Greene hit a single before a double by Blackwood tied up the game for the Jackets. Greene came in to score on a throwing error and Blackwood advanced to third to put him in position for a Wes Hodges sacrifice fly to drive him in. The Jackets added another run in the bottom of the fourth, but the Catamounts scored four runs in the top of the fifth to take the lead. The Catamounts added two insurance runs in the eighth inning, and the Jackets saw their hopes for a ninth inning comeback hopes end as Blackwood grounded into a doubleplay with two runners on to end the game.

"I give them credit because they got hits when they needed them, and I felt like we didn't play very well. We gave them a bunch of unearned runs, and that's disappointing. It can happen in baseball. Coming off two emotional wins in Miami, you always worry about your team having a let down," Hall said.

Jason Neighborgall rebounded from his Friday loss to Miami by striking out the side in one inning of work against the Catamounts. Neighborgall also gave up a one-out single to WCU's Tim Hallam who later advanced to third after taking advantage of two wild pitches. Neighborgall gave way to Ryan Turner at the start of the second inning.

"He was disappointed, and nobody felt worse than he did," Hall said. "One of the reasons we started him out here tonight was to get him back out there again, and I'm sure that picked his spirits back up."

The Jackets will be hosting the Maryland Terrapins in ACC action this weekend before going on the road for a rematch against Auburn on Tuesday.