March 13, 1999

ATLANTA - Wes Rynders squeezed home the game-winning run in the eighth inning, lifting 11th-ranked Georgia Tech to its 14th consecutive win, 7-6, over 19th-ranked N.C. State Saturday afternoon at Russ Chandler Stadium.

The Yellow Jackets improved to 16-4 overall and 2-0 in the ACC, establishing the longest winning streak for the program since the 1992 season. The Wolfpack fell to 17-3, 0-2. The teams finish their weekend series at 1:30 p.m. Sunday.

With the score tied 6-6, Jason Basil singled and reached second on an error on right fielder Josh Schmitt to open the eighth. Eric McQueen sacrificed him to third, and Rynders laid down a perfect suicide squeeze bunt to score the run.

Junior reliever Ben Sheeter (1-0) earned his first win as a Yellow Jacket, getting the final five outs after the Wolfpack tied the game in the eighth. State reliever Corey Mattison (1-1) allowed three runs over the final three innings for the loss.

As in Friday's game, the Wolfpack jumped ahead 2-0 early, loading the bases on a pair of hits and a walk and scoring both runs on ground ball outs in the first inning. Bryan Prince's RBI single in the first and Eric McQueen's fifth homer of the year in the second pulled Tech into a 2-2 tie.

Matt Postell doubled home a run in the third and drove in another in the fifth on a ground ball to give the Wolfpack a 4-2 lead.

The Jackets battled back to tie it at 4-4 in the sixth on a base-loaded walk to Prince and Basil's sacrifice fly after the first three Tech batters reached base. Tech took the lead in the seventh, 6-4, loading the bases on a single and two walks and scoring twice on wild pitches from Mattison.

A Tech error and singles by Jason Smith and Brian Wright produced two Wolfpack runs in the eighth, tying the game at 6-6 before Sheeter came on to finish the game on the mound for the Jackets.

Cory Vance started on the mound for Tech, giving up four runs on five hits through seven innings. He struck out five and walked four. Ryan Steadham gave up four runs on five hits and a pair of walks in five innings as the starter for N.C. State.

GEORGIA TECH 7, N.C. STATE 6

N.C. State (17-3, 0-2)   201 010 020 -- 6 7 2
Georgia Tech (16-4, 2-0) 110 002 21x -- 7 7 3

Ryan Steadham, Corey Mattison (6) and Curtis Sapp. Cory Vance, Jesse Thompson (8), Ben Sheeter (8) and Eric McQueen. WP--Sheeter (1-0). LP--Mattison (1-1). HR--Georgia Tech: Eric McQueen (5). T--2:37. A--395.