Luke Waddell just wanted a pitch he could hit hard, preferably in the air. He got it, and seized the opportunity.
The Georgia Tech leadoff hitter crushed a 3-1 fastball in the bottom of the fifth for a two-run home run that gave the Yellow Jackets the lead over No. 4 Georgia and helped propel them to an 11-2 rain-shortened win over the Bulldogs on Tuesday night at Russ Chandler Stadium.
On a cool night in Midtown that gave way to a deluge, the game was called after a 30-minute rain delay in the bottom of the seventh.
Waddell’s second home run in 84 at-bats this season landed beyond the right-field fence, a no-doubter off reliever Adam Goodman that triggered a six-run fifth that was followed by a four-run sixth to end Georgia’s six-game winning streak in the series (two full seasons of defeat) between the archrivals.
“It felt good,” Waddell said. “Big spot. They put in that lefty and he’s kind of wild and got a good pitch to hit.”
Before a crowd of 1,974, Tech (17-8) picked up its fourth win (against three defeats) over top-five teams as its bid to earn its first NCAA tournament berth since 2016 picks up steam. Georgia (21-4) had won 12 of its past 13.
“I knew that for the past two years that we hadn’t beat Georgia, and it’s kind of been a big talking point for us, just going out and competing against them, because they’re a top-10 team in the country,” Waddell said.
In the Tech dugout, the six-run outburst in the fifth was perhaps as cleansing as the rain showers that followed. In losing six in a row to the Bulldogs, the Jackets scored that many runs in a game only once and were vexed by an ability to deliver crucial hits. Even in the preseason, catcher Kyle McCann warned, "If we lose to them one more time, I'm going to freak out."
Further, Tech has had some shaky bullpen moments, and the onslaught removed all doubt.
Watching the parade of runs in the sixth “was a great feeling,” Hall said. “To get six runs the way we did and then come back and get four more, there’s nothing better than to see that happen, honestly.”
For the Bulldogs, having six consecutive wins in their pockets didn’t temper Tuesday’s outcome.
“It always hurts,” UGA coach Scott Stricklin said. “Clean old-fashioned hate. They call it that for a good reason.”
A little less than halfway through the regular season, Tech appears to be picking up momentum. The Jackets are 7-2 in their past nine, and only shaky pitching out of the bullpen (blown leads in the ninth) is keeping them from a 9-0 record in that span.
Over those nine games, the Jackets are hitting .322. Starting pitchers Xzavion Curry, Connor Thomas, Brant Hurter and Amos Willingham (Tuesday’s winner) are a combined 6-0 with a 3.12 ERA and a 46-10 strikeout/walk ratio.
“Everything’s kind of working right now,” Waddell said. “We’re just trying to keep that going as long as we can.”
“We’ve played four straight in five days against top-10 teams, and we’re 3-1, so we feel like we can play with anybody that we’re going to step up against,” Hall said.
The Jackets’ plan Tuesday was simple – get UGA starter Tim Elliott out of the game as quickly as possible and get into the Bulldogs bullpen. Georgia was up 2-1 after the first and Elliott held the Jackets scoreless for the next three innings, but his pitch count was quickly swelling.
Even in facing only four batters in the bottom of the second against Tech’s 6-7-8-9 hitters, Elliott burned through 25 pitches against Colin Hall, Oscar Serratos, Austin Wilhite and Nick Wilhite.
With his calf cramping, Elliott was pulled two batters into the bottom of the fifth after hitting 94 pitches. Leading off the bottom of the inning, the Wilhite twins sucked the final 15 pitches out of his right arm.
Waddell followed with his two-run bomb that scored Austin Wilhite, who had reached base on a single. Baron Radcliff followed four batters late with his own two-run homer, this one over the left-center fence, an impressive opposite-field drive.
“Even though he’d only given up one run, they had run his pitch count up, got into the bullpen and, unfortunately, the guys just didn’t perform very well (Tuesday),” Stricklin said of Elliott.
“He’s throwing 94, 95 (miles per hour),” Hall said. “For a mid-week starter, he’s really good.”
Georgia relievers Goodman, Jack Gowen, and Logan Moody gave up nine hits and nine runs in 1 2/3 innings after Elliott had given up two hits and two runs in the first 4-1/3 innings.
“They’re our rivals,” Elliott said. “We want to win and we’ll come back out punching harder next time and we’ll get the job done.”
Willingham improved to 4-0 by going 6 1/3 innings, giving up two runs on six hits. He struck out eight and walked two.
“He just did a good job throwing strikes, changed speeds, threw three pitches for strikes and just kind of kept us off balance,” UGA shortstop and leadoff hitter Cam Shepherd said.
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