The Georgia Tech baseball team dropped two of three at No. 14 Virginia. Relief pitcher Matthew Gorst came through for the Yellow Jackets in the third game, giving Tech 6 1/3 innings of scoreless relief to help secure a 5-4 win to avoid a sweep. It was a career long for Gorst, who has been exceptional in relief this season.
He has a 0.51 ERA and a .187 opponent batting average in 22 appearances covering 35 innings.
Tech is now 12-14 in the ACC, eighth in the conference and barely above the 10-team cut for the conference tournament starting May 24 in Durham, N.C.
The team with the 11th best record, Boston College, is at 11-14. Incidentally, the Jackets and Eagles will have a weekend series starting Friday at Russ Chandler Stadium.
At the same time, Tech is a half-game behind the two teams tied for sixth, Clemson and Wake Forest, which are 13-14. The top six teams automatically qualify for pool play, while teams 7-10 will have one-game playoffs to get into the pool.
Tech is 33-18 overall and No. 18 in RPI and No. 12 in schedule strength, according to warrennolan.com. The Jackets have series wins over Clemson (No. 11), North Carolina (No. 15), Coastal Carolina (No. 17) and would appear pretty safe for an NCAA tournament bid. The ACC tournament is still up in the air, obviously.
Tech plays Georgia at Turner Field Tuesday night at 7 p.m.
Women's tennis advances
The Tech women’s tennis team moved to the round of 16 by defeating Princeton and South Carolina in the rounds of 64 and 32, respectively, in Columbia, S.C. It’s Tech’s first trip to the Sweet 16 and nationals since 2012, coach Bryan Shelton’s final season at Tech.
The Jackets trounced the Gamecocks 4-0 on Saturday. Johnnise Renaud, Paige Hourigan and Rasheeda McAdoo all delivered decisive straight-set victories at first, second and third singles, repectively, to clinch the match after helping Tech win the doubles point.
The Jackets will play fourth-ranked Ohio State Thursday in Tulsa, Okla. South Carolina is the second highest ranked team to be eliminated, following No. 9 Duke.
Men's tennis stopped in round of 32
The Tech men’s tennis team lost in the second round to No. 10 USC Saturday 4-2 in Los Angeles. The margin was tight. After winning the doubles point on a tiebreaker, the Jackets lost two singles matches in three sets. Christopher Eubanks won Tech’s only singles point at No. 1 singles.
The Jackets, playing for the second Sweet 16 appearance in team history, finish the season at 17-9. Eubanks will compete in the NCAA singles championship in Tulsa and is seeded No. 7.
Golf at NCAA regionals
Tech's golf team will begin NCAA regional play Monday in Tucson, Ariz. The Jackets, who have not been up to their high standards this season, will play for their 29th appearance in the NCAA finals.
Tech is ranked No. 48 nationally by Golfstat and will be one of 14 teams in the Tucson regional. The top five teams after 72 holes will make it through to the NCAA championship. Since the NCAA adopted regional qualifying tournaments in 1989, Tech has advanced 23 out of 25 times.
The Jackets are led by Vincent Whaley, who has three top-five finishes this season, and Chris Petefish, who tied for seventh at the ACC championship.
