No. 1 Tech sweeps Southern in doubleheader

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Posted 10:08AM on Sunday, February 16, 2003

STATESBORO - Kyle Bakker pitched six strong innings in the first game, and Jeremy Slayden and Eric Patterson each homered in the nightcap as top-ranked Georgia Tech swept a doubleheader from Georgia Southern 8-1 and 8-3 Saturday. The season-opening victories extended Tech's winning streak over the Eagles to 19 games. Bakker (1-0) earned the win on opening day for the second consecutive season after holding Georgia Southern to one run on four hits in six innings of work. He issued just one walk and struck out four batters while allowing just three batters to advance past first base. Brian Burks tossed three shutout innings to close out the game and earn his first save of the season. In the opener, Mike Nickeas broke a 1-1 tie with a fifth-inning RBI double and Tech broke it open in the sixth with four runs, featuring an RBI double by Tyler Greene and a run-scoring single by Micah Owings. Nickeas also had a run-scoring double in the eighth. GSU had tied the score at 1 on a RBI double from A.J. Zickgraf in the fourth inning. Carlos Love had three of Georgia Southern's four hits in the game. GSU starter Brian Rogers (1-1) took the loss, surrendering six runs in 5.1 innings despite striking out nine batters. In the nightcap, Tech jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning on Slayden's first home run of the season. The Eagles responded with three runs in the fourth inning, including a home run from Rocky Baker, to take a 3-2 lead. Tech retook the lead, 6-3, with four runs in the sixth inning on four consecutive RBI singles from Jake Hall, Andy Hawranick, Eric Patterson and Nickeas. The Yellow Jackets added two more runs in the eighth when Patterson hit a solo home run, his first of the season, and Blackwood was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Owings (1-0) picked up the win in relief for the Yellow Jackets by working 3.1 innings of scoreless and hitless relief. Georgia Southern starter Brian Harrison (1-1) took the loss in game two, allowing five runs in 5.2 innings.