A day after succumbing, Georgia Tech showed some grit to extend its stay at its NCAA baseball regional.
The third-seeded Yellow Jackets broke a 1-1 tie by scoring three runs with two out in the top of the ninth to defeat No. 4 seed Jacksonville State 4-2 Sunday in an elimination game. Tech advanced to play the loser of the Sunday afternoon winner’s bracket game between Ole Miss and Washington in a second elimination game late Sunday night.
“It’s just one of those games where it’s going to come down to somebody getting a hit and thank God, we got ’em in the ninth inning,” Tech coach Danny Hall said.
The winner of Sunday night’s late game will play the Ole Miss-Washington winner for the regional championship Monday at Swayze Field at 3 p.m. (EDT).
Through 17 innings at the regional, starting with Tech’s 8-0 loss to No. 2 seed Washington in the opening game Saturday and the first eight innings Sunday, the Jackets had generated one run and were 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position. It very much looked Tech (37-26) would squander another opportunity in the top of the ninth and give momentum back to Jacksonville State (36-27).
Ryan Peurifoy led off the inning with a single, but Mitch Earnest popped up a sacrifice-bunt attempt for the first out. Daniel Spingola missed a hit-and-run sign, allowing Peurifoy to get caught stealing. Hall steamed in the dugout. But Spingola redeemed himself with a two-strike single and Mott Hyde did likewise to put runners on first and third.
Then Matt Gonzalez hit a line drive off reliever Travis Stout into the right-center gap to score Spingola and Hyde. Thomas Smith followed with a single to score Gonzalez. The Jackets led 4-1, enough cushion to withstand closer Dusty Isaacs loading the bases before retiring the next three batters.
“So we made a bad situation into a good situation,” Hall said.
Stout had not given up a run in his previous 12 appearances, a stretch of 19 innings, and hadn’t surrendered a hit in his past five appearances (six innings) at the Ohio Valley Conference tournament. He had entered the game with a .167 opponents’ batting average.
“I guess we just all went up there with the same approach, try to let (the count) get deep and take it to right field,” said Gonzalez, whose double gave him Tech’s RBI lead with 37.
As has often been the case this season, Tech, which earned its spot in the tournament by winning its ninth ACC title, stayed in the game with solid pitching from starter Devin Stanton and relievers Sam Clay and Isaacs plus a number of defensive plays, including two double plays (giving Tech a school-record and NCAA-best 77). The Jacket also got an outfield assist by Peurifoy, Tech’s 23rd, which is tied for most in the NCAA.
About the Author
