Chad Pinder drove in the winning run on a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning to help Virginia Tech defeat Georgia Tech 3-2 on Friday afternoon in the ACC tournament and clinch an appearance in Sunday’s final.
Pinder also hit a solo home run in the fourth for the sixth-seeded Hokies (38-19), who went 3-0 in Pool B to clinch a reach the title game.
Sam Dove and Matt Gonzalez each had two hits for the seventh-seeded Yellow Jackets (34-25), while Jonathan King (6-5) took the loss after allowing nine hits in a career-high 6 1/3 innings.
Alex Perez also drove in a run for the Hokies, while starter Devin Burke (10-3) allowed two runs — one earned — and seven hits in 7 2/3 innings. Clark Labitan earned his 10th save.
“That was a really good ballgame,” Jackets coach Danny Hall said. “I thought we played really well. Jonathan pitched really well. But credit them. Burke made a lot of pitches when he had to, and they got the big hit when they needed it.”
The Jackets upset second-seeded Florida State in their tournament opener, but finished at 1-2 in Pool B.
Gonzalez singled to right in the third inning and moved to third when Thomas Smith reached on a throwing error by shortstop Pinder. Kyle Wren’s RBI grounder to first base drove home the first run of the game.
Back-to-back singles by Gonzalez and Smith got the fifth inning started, and Brandon Thomas walked to load the bases with one out. Palka’s RBI grounder pushed the Jackets ahead, but they could have done more. With runners at first and third, Mitch Earnest hammered a ball to left that seemed headed for a home run, but the ball hung up in the stiff breeze and was reeled in at the track by Tyler Horan.
Earnest, who entered the game to catch in the bottom of the fourth for Zane Evans, would have another shot at some heroics in the seventh, but his smash to left landed just shy of the wall in Horan’s glove.
“He wasn’t feeling good,” said Hall of his catcher Evans. “It was just the case where he didn’t feel like he could go back there and catch.”
Tech’s postseason fate now rests with the NCAA selection committee, who announces the NCAA field at noon Monday on ESPNU.
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