It’s Frank Wren’s ballpark. Tuesday was Kyle Wren’s night.
The Georgia Tech center fielder, son of the Braves’ general manager, delivered the game-winning hit against Georgia in the Yellow Jackets’ 4-3 win at Turner Field. From his box seat, the elder Wren watched with approval as Wren yanked a two-out double in the top of the ninth against Bryan Benzor that scored Mott Hyde for the winning run.
"Huge hit, and we needed it," Tech coach Danny Hall said of Wren's double. "I definitely didn't want to go to extra innings."
Tech reliever Alex Cruz, having an exceptional season out of the bullpen, closed down the Bulldogs in the bottom of the ninth. He is now 5-1 for the Jackets this season. Benzor took the loss to fall to 4-3.
With the win, Tech (25-17) evened the season series at one game after losing in Athens on March 20. The deciding game will be played May 9 at Russ Chandler Stadium. The victory also improved Hall’s record against Georgia to 38-29.
The Jackets have won six of the past eight meetings. The Bulldogs (24-18) lost to Tech at Turner Field for just the third time in 10 meetings.
Aside from bragging rights, the game also boosted Tech’s NCAA tournament résumé. Atypically, neither team is close to being a tournament lock should it fail to win its conference tournament. Tech has some work to do to make its 26th tournament appearance in 28 seasons. The same holds for Georgia, which will travel to LSU (No. 4 in Baseball America) this weekend. Tech, which took a series at No. 16 North Carolina last weekend, has some momentum headed into a home series with Clemson.
Aside from Wren’s dramatics, Hyde was Tech’s primary offensive star. Hitting out of the nine spot, Hyde was 3-for-4 with three runs scored. He started the ninth-inning rally with a two-out single, then stole second.
He hit a two-out, two-run homer in the top of the seventh inning that lifted the Jackets into a 3-2 lead, and he scored Tech’s first run after doubling to lead off the third, which tied the game at 1-1. The ball bounced on top of the yellow outfield fence padding and into the seats, just out of the grasp of left fielder Conor Welton.
Hyde entered the game batting .254, but 10 of his 36 hits this season have gone for extra bases.
"His home run gave us a big lift and he started the rally in the ninth inning," Hall said. "He had a great night."
Tech used three pitchers to capture the win, beginning with starter Josh Heddinger. The freshman from Buford High went 3 2/3 innings, giving up one run despite putting five runners on base. He was followed by Zane Evans, who stranded five Bulldogs base runners in 2 1/3 innings.
Cruz pitched the final three innings, wiggling out of a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the seventh inning with one run allowed. Georgia stranded 11 runners in the game and was 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position.
It’s frustrating,” Georgia head coach David Perno said. “We got off to a good start and (Blake) Dieterich did a pretty good job, but we’re not picking each other up, and we’re doing a real poor job with runners in scoring position. No one is really stepping up at all. We have to be able to adjust as hitters, and we aren’t doing that right now.”
A crowd of 19,669, perhaps 60 percent of which wore Georgia red and black, filled Turner Field on a sweatshirt kind of evening. The game, a fundraiser for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, was expected to raise about $250,000 for the hospital.
Georgia started Dieterich, who has been the Bulldogs’ closer this season in absence of Tyler Maloof. Making only the 10th start of his three-year career, Dieterich was the first of four Georgia pitchers to take the mound. Dieterich lasted 4 2/3 innings, his longest appearance of the season. He held Tech to one run.
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