ATLANTA, Ga. – Ty Wright (Montrose/ABAC) went 4-for-5, including his first career grand slam to highlight a 7-run seventh inning, as Georgia Southern hammered Georgia Tech 23-3 Wednesday afternoon (April 8). The 26th-ranked Eagles, scoring a program-high 23 runs in the series against Tech, improved to 22-8 overall.
Wright led off the contest with a base hit for the fourth consecutive game, and also extended his hitting streak to a career-high 13 games. Kevin Bowles (Statesboro/Statesboro) singled and two wild pitches by Jed Bradley brought home Wright. With Bowles on third and two out, Phillip Porter (Marietta/Sprayberry) reached on a RBI infield single for a 2-0 lead.
Tech (20-7) got a leadoff double in the first from Jeff Rowland and he scored on a RBI single from Derek Dietrich. Thomas Nichols added a sacrifice fly in the fourth to tie the score. From there the offense scored in every inning afterwards and the bullpen shut down the eighth-ranked Yellow Jackets.
In the fifth Wright led off with a single. Bowles walked then Griffin Benedict (Dunwoody/St. Pius) lined a RBI single through the right side for a 3-2 lead.
Chris Banker (Martinez/Chattahoochee Valley CC) drew a two-out walk in the sixth. Wright followed with a walk to put runners at first and second. Bowles worked the count full before lining a RBI single to right field and a 4-2 lead.
After a groundout to start the seventh, GS got a single and five consecutive walks to bring home two runs – the last two bases loaded walks coming from Brian Pierce (Roswell/Roswell) and Banker. Wright followed with a no-doubt grand slam to left field. Eric Phillips (Carrollton/Carrollton) lifted a sacrifice fly in the seventh to cap the scoring, but also saw his season-high 11-game hitting streak end.
“I’ve been getting a lot of fastballs yesterday and today but been missing some of them. During the previous at-bat Phillip (Porter) said I was lifting my head. So I was concentrating on keeping my head on the pitch, saw another fastball and got a good piece of it,” said Wright.
A.J. Wirnsberger (Tuscaloosa, AL/Paul Bryant) hit a solo homer to start the eighth, his team-leading sixth. In the ninth off closer Mark Pope, the first nine Eagles reached base and all would come around to score. Will Southwell (Moultrie/Colquitt County) hit a 2-run double then Kyle Blackburn (Marietta/Walton) and Wirnsberger hit RBI singles. Matt Miller (Canton/Woodstock) ripped a RBI double to the gap. A throwing error by the Tech catcher led to another run then Banker drove home another run on a single. Southwell hammered a 2-run shot later in the inning to cap the 11-run frame.
Starter Andy Moye (Alpharetta/Alpharetta) gave up two runs on six hits in four innings. Freshman Colin Snow (Alpharetta/Alpharetta) earned the win in relief pitching 2.1 scoreless innings of relief. He allowed one hit and struck out two. Charles Matthews (Athens/Spartanburg Methodist), Dexter Bobo (Cumming/Darton College) and Kyle Kamppi (Savannah/Benedictine) gave up one run over the final three innings to close out the win.
Wright’s four hits were a season-high, the four runs scored matched a career-high and the four RBI equaled a season-high.
Southwell went 2-for-2 in the ninth inning with four RBI. Bowles finished with three hits and matched a career-high of four runs scored. Benedict, Wirnsberger, Porter and Pierce had two hits apiece as the Eagles held a 20-9 edge in hits.
Bradley (1-2) was charged for only three runs on six hits in four innings while the bullpen suffered the most damage.
“I hope we saved some offense (for this weekend), everyone was concentrating and doing their job on offense, and the bullpen came in and shut them down,” said Wright. “This is a very special win considering Tech is eighth in the country. Hopefully we can build on today and carry it over to this weekend.”
The Eagles return to Southern Conference play this weekend for a weekend series at Western Carolina, a team Georgia Southern is tied with for first in the loss column. First pitch on Friday night (April 10) is scheduled for 6 p.m.
