Miami Falls To Georgia Tech, 14-5
May 19, 2006
ATLANTA – (www.hurricanesports.com) – Miami saw its 3-0 lead disappear just as quickly as it had gotten it when No. 8 Georgia Tech exploded for eight runs in the second inning on the way to a 14-5 win Friday night at Russ Chandler Stadium. Georgia Tech evened the series at 1-1 with the win and dropped No. 16 Miami’s record to 35-18 overall and 17-12 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Yellow Jackets (41-14, 18-11 ACC) erased Miami’s early lead by taking advantage of a five-walk inning with a pair of home runs, including a grand slam. Luke Murton hit a two-run single off Miami starter Carlos Gutierrez to put the Yellow Jackets on the board and trim Miami’s lead to 3-2. Gutierrez hit Michael Fisher and walked Steven Blackwood to load the bases with two outs before Andrew Lane was brought into the game to face Wally Crancer. Crancer crushed a 0-1 pitch from Lane to deep right field for a grand slam that put Tech up 6-3. Whit Robbins singled and Jeff Kindel homered in his second plate appearance of the inning for an 8-3 Yellow Jacket lead.
UM battled back for two more runs in the game, but Tech scored big in the late innings to pull away.
Gutierrez (9-6) gave up five earned runs on three hits and two walks in 1.2 innings in the loss for Miami. Lee Hyde improved to 4-0 on the season with a career-high 4.2 innings of relief. Hyde struck out six Hurricanes and gave up two runs on five hits with only one walk in the win.
Tommy Giles went 3-for-5 with a pair of RBI and Dennis Raben went 2-for-4 with two runs for the Hurricanes.
Eleven of Georgia Tech’s 14 runs came off home runs. Kindel hit two of Tech’s five homers and drove in three runs. Crancer added four RBI on his grand slam, Blackwood hit a solo home run and Wes Hodges hit a three-run shot in the eighth inning.
Yonder Alonso got the Hurricanes in the board in the first inning with a RBI single to left to score Giles. The play was set up when Giles, who singled and moved to second on Jon Jay’s grounder, advanced to third on a wild-pitch ball four to Danny Valencia.
Richard O’Brien Jr. hammered a 2-2 pitch from Tech starter David Duncan over the center field wall to lead off the Hurricane second and provide a 2-0 lead. Raben reached on an error and moved to second on Roger Tomas’ sac bunt. Raben hustled home on Giles’ two-out single to right, barely beating the throw to the plate. Duncan walked Jay and was replaced by Hyde, who retired Valencia to end the inning.
The 3-0 lead shrunk to 3-2, changed hands with Crancers’ grand slam and widened with Kindel’s home run in the second.
Marcelo Albir relieved Lane to start the third and was greeted with a double by Mike Trapani down the left-field line. Trapani moved to third on Fisher’s sac bunt and scored on Blackwood’s sac fly to left to make it 9-3 Georgia Tech.
UM trimmed the lead to 9-5 with runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Giles drove in Raben with his third single of the night in the fourth and Raben hit a two-out double to left-center in the fifth to score Valencia.
Albir worked efficiently through a career-high 3.2 innings and retired seven-straight Yellow Jackets until Kindel smacked his second home run of the game to right-center with two outs in the sixth inning. Robbins singled on Albir’s next pitch and he was relieved by Danny Gil, who finished the inning.
Hyde was relieved by Jared Hyatt in the seventh after allowing Valencia to reach on an error and issuing a walk to Eddy Rodriguez.
Raben moved the mound to start the seventh inning and retired the side in his first pitching performance since Feb. 11. Blackwood led off the eighth with a solo home run to dead center on a 3-2 pitch to give Tech an 11-5 lead. Wes Hodges added a three-run home run later in the inning to push the lead to 14-5 and end Raben’s night.
Miami and Georgia Tech conclude the series on Saturday with a 1 p.m. first pitch. The game will be televised regionally on FSN Florida and can be heard on the Student Voice of UM, WVUM 90.5 FM.
Notes: Valencia extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a single in the fifth inning … Lane’s appearance in the second inning was the 90th of his career, tying him with Allan Westfall (1994-96) for seventh on Miami’s all-time appearances and all-time relief appearances lists.
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