Tech shuts out Clemson, ACC final berth in the air

Tech’s own RPI has improved only one spot from the start of the week, to No. 38, but improved its record against RPI top-50 teams to 10-10.

To get into Sunday’s ACC championship, Tech will need Miami to beat Duke in an 11 a.m. game Saturday (Fox Sports South). The Jackets will spend the day at the team hotel.

“I already told the team, we’ve gone at it four days in a row,” Hall said. “We just need to rest and see if we get the opportunity to play on Sunday.”

Miami swept Duke during the regular season, but Tech had also swept the Blue Devils before Duke beat them 6-0 Thursday. The Blue Devils have no shortage of motivation. They likely need to win the ACC tournament to get into the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1961.

But if Miami wins – the Hurricanes are 0-2 in pool play and can only play a spoiler role – the Jackets will play for their ninth ACC title.

Tech had to get itself in this position by beating Clemson, whom the Jackets played for the first time this season. The rivals did not play in the regular season for the first time since 1973.

At the meeting at home plate prior to the game, Clemson coach Jack Leggett "said to me, ‘Here we go again,’” Hall said, “and my reply was, ‘Just as it should be.’”

Pitchers Dusty Isaacs and Sam Clay combined for the shutout. They limited Clemson to four hits, all singles, and striking out 13 while walking four. Pitching coach Jason Howell wanted to go with Isaacs, the trusted reliever, despite the fact that he hadn’t started a game all year.

“He just felt like we needed somebody to get us off to a good start,” Hall said. “We knew that he couldn’t throw a lot, but we felt it was a moment to either try to get the lead or make sure we have them in check early.”

In five innings of work, Isaacs only permitted one runner to get as far as second base, and passed the baton to Clay with a 1-0 lead after Daniel Spingola, Mott Hyde, Matt Gonzalez and Thomas Smith singled in consecutive at bats to drive in Spingola for the first run, in the top of the fifth.

“It couldn’t have worked out any better,” Hall said.

Clay plowed through the final four innings, getting a cushion when Hyde jacked a two-run homer to left in the top of the ninth. For the season, Clay now has a 1.35 ERA and an opponent batting average of .187. With Isaacs and Clay holding things down Friday, Hall could go with one of two starters, Devin Stanton or Matthew Grimes (who pitched 4 2/3 innings Tuesday), in the potential championship game Sunday.

In the other pool, Maryland controls its destiny at 2-0 with wins over top-5 teams Florida State and Virginia. The Terrapins, who haven't won an ACC title since 1971 (also the year of their last NCAA tournament) could secure a title-game berth with a Virginia win over North Carolina Friday night. It’s the school’s final appearance in an ACC event before it leaves for the Big Ten this summer.

A matchup of the Nos. 6 (Maryland) and 9 (Tech) seeds playing for the title hardly whets appetites, but would be fitting this year.

“Honestly, I don’t think there’s a lot of difference in our league between first place and eighth or ninth or 10th place,” Hall said. “I feel like our team is confident that they can play.”