No. 3 baseball stays near pinnacle of rankings

While most students were away for Spring Break, the No. 3 Tech baseball team was entering the start of their ACC schedule.

The Jackets beat Western Carolina on Tuesday and took two of three games from then No. 2 North Carolina at the end of spring break. Tech also dropped two of three games to North Carolina State at the beginning of Spring Break, and got off to a good start by taking two of three games against Virginia to kick off the ACC slate.

Heading into the weekend, the third ranked team in the nation holds a 21-5 overall record and has posted a 5-4 mark in conference.

The Jackets dropped the first game of last weekend’s series against the Tar Heels before taking the next two to win the series.

The first game of the series featured two Juniors - Tech’s Blake Wood against Carolina’s southpaw Andrew Miller . Both pitchers lived up to expectations in front of a horde of scouts at Russ Chandler Stadium. Wood gave up a run in each of the second and third innings which was more than enough support for Miller, who struck out 13 Tech hitters in seven innings of work.

The Jackets had chances, but stranded 10 runners in the 2-0 loss. It was the first shutout against Tech since last May when they were shut out 2-0 by Florida Atlantic.

Tech rebounded in game two of the series by knocking off North Carolina 11-1. The game was a pitcher’s duel until the eighth inning when the Jackets bats came alive and scored seven runs. Tim Gustafson picked up the win pitching seven innings and allowing one run on six hits and striking out a career-high seven batters.

“I wanted to redeem myself from last weekend,” Gustafson said. “I fell behind ahead on a few hitters, but it was nice to put our team in a position to win.”

“Our left-handers could see Bard’s pitches better than they could see Miller’s [pitches],” Head Coach Danny Hall said.

The Jackets won the third consecutive tightly contested game of the series on Sunday behind Freshman David Duncan. He threw 5.1 innings and allowed two runs on six hits while striking out five. Duncan allowed first pitch solo home runs to the leadoff hitters of the third and fourth innings, but the bats picked him up. Tech scored one run in the fifth inning and added two more runs in the sixth inning to take a 3-2 lead, which they would not relinquish. Matt Wieters picked up his second save of the year, retiring all five batters he faced.

“I tried to get ahead of (Benji Johnson) with a fastball and he hit it out,” Duncan said. “(Tim Federowicz) had a good swing on a split finger fastball”

In the sixth inning with Whit Robbins on third base and Steven Blackwood on second, Mike Trapani hit a sacrifice fly out to left field that scored Robbins and advanced Blackwood to third on the play. Wally Crancer pinch hit for Andy Hawranick and drove in Blackwood with a line drive that hit the Tar Heel pitcher Robert Woodard.

Tuesday night of this past week, the Jackets knocked off Western Carolina 19-5 despite the late arrival of the umpires which delayed the start for over an hour.

Sophomore pitcher Tim Ladd gave up three runs to the Catamounts before settling down and pitching four strong innings. Ryan Turner picked up the win as he pitched the next three innings without giving up a hit or a walk.

The Jackets did the bulk of the damage in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th innings scoring 16 runs during that stretch.

Whit Robbins and Wes Hodges both drove in four runs while Danny Payne scored four runs, all in the first five innings. Hall then started subbing in players off the bench with the game in hand.

The Jackets traveled to Raleigh the first weekend of Spring Break, but Tech pitchers struggled against the Wolfpack lineup all weekend long. The Jackets gave up eight runs through five innings of all three games in the series.

Danny Payne went two of four from the plate, but was the only Tech hitter to get anything off of Eryk McConnell in game one of the series. Wood picked up the loss despite giving up just two earned runs. North Carolina State capitalized on four Tech errors to take the first game of the series 8-1.

The Jackets fell behind early in the second game as Gustafson got his first start of the season. He had a rough return to the weekend rotation giving up seven earned runs in less than four innings of work.

After falling behind 9-3 the Jackets bats woke up scoring four runs in the seventh inning and adding two more in the eighth inning. The Jackets took the lead in the top of the tenth inning, but Wieters was unable to hold on for the victory. He gave up three runs in the bottom half of the inning to pick up the loss despite pitching 3.1 innings in relief. Tech dropped their third consecutive ACC game 12-11 in 10 innings.

Tech salvaged the third game of the series defeating the Wolfpack 17-11. Duncan struggled early, and Jared Hyatt came in relief work and struggled at the start but managed to pick up the win despite the Jackets trailing 8-4 after four innings.

The Jackets bats came alive in the eighth inning against a fatigued North Carolina State bullpen. The Jackets scored six runs on five hits in the inning and added five runs on six hits of insurance in the ninth to end their ACC losing streak.

Danny Payne closed the game out by getting the final five outs and picked up his first collegiate save for the Jackets in his third pitching appearance of the year.

In the final two games of the series, the Jackets hitters combined for nine homeruns.

Tech ended a six game regular season losing streak against Virginia to kick off the ACC schedule. Tech took the first two games of the series before dropping the third. The Jackets also defeated Mississippi Valley State 13-4 in a staff pitching game that saw eight pitchers used with Duncan picking up the win.

Tech will continue their ACC play with a weekend series against Maryland in College Park starting at 7p.m. tonight.