Brandon Stephens was trying his best to enjoy Wednesday’s night’s win over Georgia Tech. But every time he tried to answer questions about his game-winning hit in the bottom of the ninth, the Georgia Bulldogs’ catcher ended up with a face full of shaving cream.
It was that kind of celebratory night for the Bulldogs. They knocked off their rivals 1-0 in dramatic fashion before a bundled-up crowd of 1,822 at Foley Field.
Stephens’ ground ball up the middle with two outs in the bottom of the ninth barely eluded the glove of Georgia Tech shortstop Elliott Barzilli and scored Sean McLaughlin from third base. It was Stephens’ only hit in what was back-and-forth pitcher’s battle.
“To get a win like that feels great,” said Stephens, a junior from Marietta. “I was just happy to get it for my team, to get the W for them. I wish we could have got the W for Robert.”
Freshman right-hander Robert Tyler got the start for the Bulldogs and went eight, giving up just two hits, striking out five and walking one on exactly 100 pitches. Jared Cheek (2-2) got the win for Georgia with a scoreless ninth.
“Robert’s really good,” Georgia’s first-year coach Scott Stricklin said. “It’s scary to think he’s only a freshman. He throws a lot of strikes and he doesn’t back down from a challenge. … We’re really excited about his future, we’re excited for Robert and we’re excited for us.”
It was the fourth straight win for the Bulldogs, who improve to 6-6 on the season. They’ll play the Jackets twice more, the next time at Tech on April 15.
The Yellow Jackets (7-5) have lost three of their last four to Georgia. Thomas Smith had both hits for Tech. Tanner Shelton (0-1) gwas charged with the loss.
The final result did not come without controversy. McLaughlin was pinch-running for Zack Bowers, who was 3-for-3 on the night and walked with one out. McLaughlin stole second base and reached third on what was ruled an error on the throw of catcher Mitch Earnest.
Tech coach Danny Hall argued that should have been catcher’s interference. Earnest’s arm caught Stephens in the back of the head on the throw, sending the ball off line to the shortstop side of second base.
“He definitely hit something and my catcher’s generally not going to throw the ball into center field,” Hall said. “ The umpire felt that their guy was in the box, and until I see a replay I’m not going to know. It’s a tough way to lose a game for sure.”
Nobody in the Bulldogs’ dugout was certain that Hall was wrong.
“It looked like it was a high and inside pitch, the catcher went that way a little bit and the hitter swung at it,” Stricklin said. “I don’t know, I’ll have to see it. You hate for it to end it that way. But I’m going to have to watch (the video) to find out.”
Said Stephens: “It’s hard to tell. It’s not like I was doing it intentionally. If I drifted over the plate a little bit I didn’t notice it. I’ll have to look at the tape. The person that matters thought I didn’t.”
It was landmark win for Stricklin, who played for Hall at Kent State and coached for him twice as an assistant before taking over the Bulldogs’ program last June.
“It’s a rivalry game, that’s the way I look at it,” said Stricklin, who was head caoch at Kent for nine years. “It’s Georgia-Georgia Tech. It’s not about me or Danny Hall, it’s about Georgia and Georgia Tech. I’m thrilled for our kids and I’m thrilled for Georgia to get that win. It’s a big one for our team. We’re starting to feel better about ourselves.”
Stephens seconded that.
“We’ve turned it around,” he said. “The sweep this weekend and then beating a Tech team like that in a midweek game on a cold night while not scoring a lot of runs — that’s just awesome. We couldn’t ask for a better feeling.”
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