Georgia Tech stayed alive in the Atlanta Regional of the NCAA baseball tournament Saturday and got a bit of revenge against Southern Mississippi at the same time.
The Yellow Jackets used a strong start by Jed Bradley and homers by Daniel Palka and Brandon Thomas in a five-run second inning to eliminate the Golden Eagles 6-2 at Russ Chandler Stadium.
Two years ago, Southern Miss knocked the Jackets out of their home regional, something Tech’s players hadn’t forgotten when the field was announced Monday.
“We still remember that, but the past doesn’t matter,” Bradley said. “We were just trying to go out, make pitches and play the game.”
The Jackets (41-20) will face the loser of the game between Mississippi State and Austin Peay at 3 p.m. Sunday. Right-hander Buck Farmer (10-3, 2.99 ERA) likely will try to keep Tech from being knocked out of a regional for the fourth consecutive year. The winner will play again at 7 p.m.
Because Matthew Grimes came in for the injured Mark Pope (oblique strain; out for regional) on Friday, it’s unclear who would start the second game, should Tech win the first.
While Tech’s batters were able to score runs Saturday, something they couldn’t do in a 2-1 loss to Austin Peay on Friday, Bradley (7-3) continued the Jackets’ solid stretch of pitching. The left-handed junior is expected to be a first-round pick in next week’s major league draft. He showed why Saturday, allowing two earned runs on eight hits with four strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings.
The Eagles didn’t score until the eighth, ending a streak of 32 scoreless innings. Hall said it was important for Bradley to pitch deep into the game, even though he said the team still has plenty of pitching left.
“It was real critical because it saves our bullpen,” Hall said. “For Jed to go out and give us ... the innings, it gives us a great chance to have some arms available for tomorrow and hopefully the next day.”
Tech gave Bradley everything he would need early, using two home runs to take a 5-0 lead in the second. Palka, who didn’t start Friday’s opener because Austin Peay went with a left-handed starting pitcher, hit the first pitch from the right-handed Josh Thomason over the fence, just inside the right-field foul pole, for his 11th homer this season.
Jacob Esch followed with a double down the left-field line, and Jake Davies singled to put runners on first and third. Sam Dove hit a RBI single up the middle to give the Jackets a 2-0 lead. After a sacrifice bunt by Zane Evans, Southern Miss coach Scott Berry pulled Thomason in favor of left-hander Dillon Day.
Thomas, a switch-hitter with equal power from both sides, moved to the right-handed batter’s box and hit a screaming line drive over the left-field wall for the inning’s final runs.
Tech added a run in the third on an RBI single by Esch that scored Matt Skole.
The Jackets stranded 10 base runners Friday as they struggled to get runners into scoring position. They stranded six Saturday, but were able to put down sacrifice bunts, and five of their nine hits went for extra bases.
“I said before the game hitting is contagious and not hitting is contagious,” Hall said. “It seemed like today when we had guys in scoring position, we were aggressive, more relaxed and able to get those hits.”
