Georgia Tech scores six late runs, tops Oklahoma to reach regional final
Georgia Tech baseball is headed to the Atlanta Regional final.
The top-seeded Yellow Jackets (50-9) weathered a 62-minute rain delay and scored six unanswered runs to pull away from the No. 2 seed Sooners (33-22) 9-3 on Saturday. The win gave the team its best start to a regional since 2010, when it opened the Atlanta Regional with two wins but later fell twice to Alabama in the Regional final.
Tech will have a chance Sunday to clinch its first trip to an NCAA Super Regional since 2006.
It will face in the regional final the winner of an elimination game between Oklahoma and No. 3 seed The Citadel.
First pitch for the finam is set for 6 p.m. on ESPN+.
Vahn Lackey, nicknamed ‘450 Vahn’ by roommate and teammate Mason Patel, again showed in the third inning he has more than just 450 feet in his back pocket.
He smashed his 20th home run of the year on a hanging slider from Sooners starter Xander Mercurius. The ball traveled 468 feet, soared over the left field scoreboard and exited his bat at 110 mph, much like the 456-foot blast he hit in Friday’s 22-5 win over Illinois Chicago.
Tech starter Tate McKee dealt with self-inflicted trouble throughout his evening, offering out four walks and committing an error that allowed the game’s first run to cross. Still, the junior threw six frames of five-hit ball and limited the damage to just three runs.
Also joining the barrel party was Parker Brosius. He continued his red-hot hitting with his eighth and ninth home runs since May 8. Before the heater, Brosius had just six career homers in 170 games.
After the Jackets scored three of their four runs in the seventh, a once zombified crowd at Mac Nease Baseball Park fizzled out, as the downpour prompted some to head for cover. Soon after, the tarp was rolled out and the lenghty pause ensued.
Still, the fans that remained made their presence known as play resumed — and so did the scoring from Tech’s prolific offense. Immediately following the restart came a sacrifice fly from Will Baker, putting one foot firmly in the Regional final for the Jackets.
