March 11, 2011
Box Score
ATLANTA -
Maryland's Sander Beck allowed just one run to the second-best hitting team in the Atlantic Coast Conference but the Terps were unable to provide any run support and fell 1-0 at No. 25 Georgia Tech Friday night.
Georgia Tech's Mark Pope, who entered the game with a 3-0 record and a 0.42 ERA, threw a complete game, four-hit shutout.
Beck (0-2) went six innings and struck out four, spreading out six hits against a team that entered with a .335 batting average. The junior walked three, including two that proved to be the difference in the game.
With two outs in the fourth, Yellow Jacket right fielder Brandon Thomas singled to keep alive the inning and Beck issued free passes to the next two batters to load the bases. That brought up freshman Kyle Wren, who singled to center field for a 1-0 lead.
That was enough for Pope (4-0), who threw a complete game for the second time in four outings this season. The junior right-hander has allowed just one earned run in 30.2 innings pitched.
Maryland (8-5) had a runner in scoring position in the fifth but was unable to bring the run home. Charlie White led off the inning with a single and after Matt Marquis flew out, stole second base. But Curtis Lazar struck out looking and Tim Kiene flew out to left-center to end the threat.
The Terps also had a chance to tie it in the ninth. Brandon Padula pinch-hit for Jack Cleary and reached on an infield single. Gary Schneider pinch ran for Padula and reached scoring position on Alfredo Rodriguez's sacrifice bunt. The Terps, however, lost their lead runner when Korey Wacker grounded it to Georgia Tech shortstop Jacob Esch, who threw to third base to get Schneider.
Wacker reached scoring position by stealing second, but Tomo Delp struck out on a called third strike - Pope's sixth strikeout of the game - to end it.
Brady Kirkpatrick was fantastic in relief for Maryland. The freshman retired all six batters he faced, striking out four of them to keep Maryland within striking distance.
Maryland and Georgia Tech play the second of the three-game series Saturday at 4 p.m.
