Georgia Tech is in trouble after the opening game of the Gainesville, Fla., NCAA regional.
The second-seeded Yellow Jackets lost 7-6 to No. 3 seed Connecticut on Friday afternoon at Florida’s McKethan Stadium, dropping them into a loser’s bracket game against Bethune-Cookman, which lost 9-3 to Florida Friday night.
Down 7-0 after 1 1/2 innings, Tech rallied in the final four innings and had the potential game-tying run at third base with two out in the bottom of the ninth. However, Kel Johnson, tied for the team lead in RBIs, popped up to end the game.
Tech (36-24) will play the elimination game at noon Saturday. The winner of that game will play Sunday at noon in another elimination game. Tech is in jeopardy of its earliest exit from an NCAA tournament appearance since 2003, the last time the Jackets were eliminated after two games.
Following the loss, coach Danny Hall was undecided about his starter for the Saturday elimination game, but the Jackets don’t enjoy many appealing choices. Hall can start ace Brandon Gold, whom he held back Friday in hopes the Jackets could beat the Huskies without him.
However, using Gold would most likely leave him unavailable for the remainder of the regional, and Tech would have to win three more games without him to advance. However, Tech doesn’t have a dependable starter after Gold.
Connecticut (38-23) played a similar gamble, going with No. 2 starter Tim Cate and reserving ace Anthony Kay for an anticipated matchup with Florida, the tournament’s top overall seed. Cate earned the win with six innings and two runs allowed.
In Friday’s game, Tech starter Zac Ryan and reliever Ben Parr gave up all seven runs in the second, all earned. Ryan loaded the bases with one out and then gave up a single and two doubles that created a 5-0 lead for the Huskies.
Parr came in and gave up back-to-back doubles to extend the advantage to 7-0.
The Jackets scored single runs in the sixth and seventh and added two in the eighth to close to 7-4. In the bottom of the ninth, Connor Justus singled in a run with two outs. After Wade Bailey’s single, Matt Gonzalez singled to drive in Justus and move Bailey — who represented the game-tying run — to third. But Johnson popped to first to end the game. Gonzalez was 3-for-4 with four RBIs and a home run.
Tech stranded seven runners to four for Connecticut. In the loss, reliever Jake Lee stood out with 4 1/3 innings of scoreless pitching, giving up just one hit, walking one and striking out a career-high six.
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