ATLANTA, Ga. – The Gardner-Webb baseball team fell 14-6 at Georgia Tech on Tuesday evening at the Mac Nease Baseball Pavilion. Redshirt sophomore Drew Ripepi led the charge for the Runnin' Bulldogs, connecting on his second homerun of the season, a two-run blast to right center in the top of the third frame.

The Yellow Jackets jumped out to an early 6-0 lead after posting three runs each in the first two innings as four different players registered an RBI Georgia Tech.

Gardner-Webb cut into the lead in the top of the third with a two-spot. Senior Aaron Morgan started the frame with a leadoff walk before coming around to score on the two-run homerun off the bat of Ripepi, trimming the deficit to 6-2.

However, Georgia Tech blew the game open with five runs in the home half of the third, capitalizing off a defensive miscue by GWU with the bases loaded followed by a two-RBI double down the left field line by Drew Burress.

After going scoreless over the next three innings, the Runnin' Bulldogs put together their best offensive frame of the contest, scoring four times on two hits while taking advantage of two errors by the Jackets in the top of the seventh.

Gardner-Webb loaded the bases with no outs before senior Lawson Knight picked up an RBI by way of a base on balls. Junior Ryan Kennell followed that up with a single to left, scoring Ethan Liao. Junior Merik Carter added an RBI fielder's choice before coming around to score on a throwing error by the Georgia Tech pitcher.

Unfortunately, the Yellow Jackets padded their lead with three runs in the bottom of the eighth, eventually taking the game 14-6.               

Gardner-Webb returns to action on Friday, March 21, traveling to Clinton, S.C. while starting a three-game Big South Conference series with the Blue Hose of Presbyterian. Game one is scheduled for 6 p.m.