Looking to bounce back after being swept in Tallahassee, Fla., the Jackets welcomed Duke to Atlanta last weekend for a three game series. Tech was able to take two-of-three from the Blue Devils, winning the first two games on Friday and Saturday, but coming up short of the sweep on Sunday.
In the first game on Friday, Charlie Blackmon, Derek Dietrich and Jeff Rowland each picked up two hits and led the Jackets to a 5-4 win over the Blue Devils. David Ducan picked up the win for the Jackets, pitching five innings and giving up four runs.
Rowland got started early, hitting a triple in the first which led to the first run of the game when Thomas Nicholas hit a sac-fly to bring in Rowland. But in the top of the second, Duke responded with a two-run double by Matt Williams to give the Blue Devils a one run lead over the Jackets.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Jackets capitalized off of three Duke errors. After Jeff Rowland walked, he advanced to third after the Duke Second Baseman committed the first error of the inning.
In the second game, Jay Dantzler, Dietrich and Rowland each picked up two hits with Dietrich and Rowland each earning a RBI in the 4-2 Tech victory over Duke. Eddie Burns got the win for the Jackets, pitching seven innings and giving up four hits, two runs, one earned.
In the bottom of the first, Blackmon was able to come across home-plate after being hit by a pitch, followed by a Dietrich RBI with two outs.
Burns went into the top of the fifth with a no-hitter going, but it was broken up after Ryan McCurdy got a single and was able to score Duke’s first run of the game after Alex Hassan brought him in with another single. Rowland responded in the bottom of the fifth with a lead off homer, his second of the year, and gave the Jackets the lead back, 2-1, over the Blue Devils.
Tech was not able to complete the sweep on Sunday, falling to Duke 10-3. Zach Von Tersch picked up his first loss of the season after he was taken out after the second, giving up four runs on three hits; three of the runs were earned. Dietrich picked up two more hits, finishing off as the only Jacket to have two hits every game during the series.
Fresh off their series win against a surprising Duke team, Tech took on Georgia State in a mid-week series. The Jackets got things off to a quick start, scoring twice in the bottom of the first. Jeff Rowland singled on the first pitch. Thomas Nichols was hit by a pitch. Charlie Blackmon walked to load the bases for Derek Dietrich, who singled and drove in two runs with the swing. Brad Feltes followed with a sacrifice bunt to move runners up to second and third.
The Panthers answered in the second, Brad Logan doubled to center and took third on a passed ball by pitcher Deck McGuire. Logan scored when Marc Mimeault grounded out to shortstop. Tech loaded the bases on a single and two hit batsmen, but Dietrich struck out to end the threat on a 3-2 pitch.
State threatened to score again in the third. Nick Hogan walked followed by Jean-Michel Rochon-Salvas’ single to left. Chase Childers helped McGuire by grounding into a double play, despite a 3-0 and a 3-1 count; Logan then grounded out to end the inning and the threat.
Tech scored again in the bottom of the third. With one out, Plagman reached on an error by the first baseman. Murton followed with a double just inside the third base bag that reached the corner. Left fielder Dusty Bennett bobbled the hop and allowed the run to score. Feltes put the Jackets up by six with one swing of the bat in the bottom of the fourth. Nichols walked to lead off the inning. After a pitching change, Blackmon was hit by a pitch and Dietrich walked to load the bases. Feltes then pulled a 3-2 pitch off the left field foul pole for the grand slam. Plagman then singled to left field ahead of the second scoring hit of the inning. The Jackets put on an offensive display the next night as well when the Alabama State hornets came to Atlanta.
In the bottom of the fifth, Tech started to pull away with Dietrich and Feltes hitting back-to-back homers. Murton, Jay Danzler and Jeff Ussery hit back-to-back-to-back RBI doubles and back-up catcher Cole Leonida homered to finish off the scoring. Chase Burnett added another home run in the bottom of the eighth.