Tech beats Georgia, 6-5

By Doug Roberson

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Jacob Esch took four consecutive pitches to walk in the winning run and give Georgia Tech a 6-5 victory over Georgia on Tuesday at Russ Chandler Stadium.

Bulldogs closer Alex McRee struggled with his control in the eighth inning, hitting leadoff batter Derek Dietrich and walking Chase Burnette and Jay Dantzler. After McRee bounced back to strike out Jason Garofalo and Jeff Rowland, Esch saw four pitches out of the strike zone to bring in the winning run.

"I went up there thinking I'm taking until he throws me a strike," said Esch, who added two singles and another walk. "If it got to a 3-1 count, I thought about taking a 3-2 count to get some runners moving, but no shot, no shot [of swinging] on 3-0."

Tech improved to 14-1 and will resume ACC play with a three-game series at Maryland that begins Friday. Georgia dropped to 8-9 and will open SEC play with a three-game series against Auburn. Tech and Georgia will meet again when the Bulldogs host the Yellow Jackets on April 14.

Andrew Robinson (2-0) picked up the win, going two innings and allowing one hit with three strikeouts including two of Georgia's last three batters. McRee (0-1) took the loss, walking three with three strikeouts.

The game began as if it were going to be a blowout for the Jackets. Rowland led off the first with a home run to right field to give Tech a 1-0 lead. Two batters later, Tony Plagman increased Tech's lead to 3-0 with a homer to right-center field that bounced off the satellite truck used to broadcast the game. He drove in Esch, who walked on four pitches.

Dantzler pushed Tech's lead to 4-0 in the second with a homer to right field that cleared the wall that fronts Fowler Street.

Georgia cut the lead to 4-1 in the sixth inning on an RBI triple by Zach Cone, the brother of Tech wide receiver Kevin Cone. An out later, Peter Verdin blooped a single into center field to score Cone and cut Tech's lead to 4-2.

The Bulldogs took the lead in the seventh on a triple by Cone, his second in as many at bats, that drove in two runs. Verdin followed that with an RBI double down the third-base line.

Tech could have limited the damage, but Dietrich slipped trying to catch a blooper by Todd Hankins earlier in the inning. Esch picked up the ball and was a split-second late tagging out Taylor. The miscue put runners on first and second with no outs and set the stage for Cone.

As the Bulldogs' bats were heating for seven hits in the sixth and seventh innings, the Jackets' were going cold. After battering starter Blake Dieterich for four runs in three innings, Tech scratched out one hit and two walks from the third to sixth innings off relievers Steve Esmonde and Justin Earls.

"Justin Earls changed that game," Georgia coach David Perno said. "We weren't doing much offensively, and he showed that they could make outs just like everybody else. He went in there and threw two doughnuts up and rallied behind it."

Rowland broke Tech's streak with a single to right with one out in the seventh. Esch followed with a single to center, and Cole Leonida drove home Rowland with a single to center that tied the game 5-5.

"They took advantage of some mistakes we made there, but the guys hung in," Tech coach Danny Hall said.