ATHENS — Georgia Tech’s Cam Jones did a little bit of everything Sunday and willed Tech to a 3-1 win over the University of North Carolina Wilmington in an elimination game at Foley Field in the Athens Regional.
The Yellow Jackets (33-24) face Georgia at 6 p.m. Sunday to keep their postseason alive and then again Monday to advance to a Super Regional for the first time since 2006.
Jones, a Georgia State graduate, pitched seven innings and held UNC Wilmington to one run on six hits. He struck out three and walked two before exiting after 115 pitches (72 strikes). Jones came back out to start the eighth but a torrential downpour halted play for 113 minutes.
At the plate, Jones went 2-for-4 with a walk and two stolen bases.
“I got out to the mound, and I felt good in my legs using my lower half, that’s really important for me doing it on both sides of the ball, just staying in my legs, staying as fresh as I can,” Jones said. “I got a good feel for my fastball after that first time through the order. I kind of had to pitch just purely soft the first time through and they kind of set me up to go through that second time of the order I got to show ‘em my fastball. A lot of those guys were sitting soft and I think that worked out for me pretty well.”
The Jackets got a bit of revenge Sunday having fallen 9-0 to UNCW (40-21) on Friday. But the Seahawks, who stranded eight runners and hit into one double play, couldn’t find the same offensive success against Jones.
Dawson Brown (S, 4) came in to pitch the eighth after the long delay. He got the Seahawks in order in the eighth and the first two hitters of the ninth before walking pinch-hitter Kevin Novobilsky. But Jax Croom popped up the first pitch he saw into foul territory where Tech third baseman Carson Kerce was waiting to squeeze the final out.
“Made all the plays we needed to make,” Tech coach Danny Hall said. “Just nice to be able to get to the championship game here. This is playoff baseball and my guys are gonna be ready to roll here.”
Jones fell into an early hole after he put himself in hot water in the third when he fumbled a one-out squibber up the first base line allowing Aiden Evans to reach with one out (the play was inexplicably ruled a hit). Tanner Thach then bashed a double off the wall in left center giving the Seahawks a 1-0 lead.
But Tech’s freshman phenom Drew Burress got that run right back in the bottom of the third by scorching a Zane Taylor 3-1 pitch over the wall in left tying the game at 1-1. It was the second homer in as many days for Burress and his 25th of the season.
In Tech’s fourth, Bobby Zmarzlak laced a single to the left field corner. Mike Becchetti stepped in and took a 0-2 pitch out way over the fence in left, making it 3-1.
“Mike Becchetti coming up and hitting that two-run homer, he’s been doing that all year,” Jones said. “Just coming together as a team, we left a lot of guys in scoring position, but we scored when it counted and we made the most of it on the mound as well.”
That would be all Jones (4-2) needed. Even though the Jackets left the bases loaded in both the fourth and fifth innings and left runners at the corners in the sixth, Jones labored on and kept Tech’s season alive for at least one more game.
Taylor (5-1) was charged with three earned runs on five hits.
NOTES
- Attendance on Sunday was announced as 3,403.
- Tech is now 3-3 all-time against UNCW.
- The Jackets improved to 71-59 in NCAA regional games.
- Burress now needs two RBIs to tie Matt Wieters’ record of 69 RBIs by a Tech freshman set in 2005
- Burress’ 25 home runs this season is tied for the second-most in a single Tech season. Kevin Parada hit 26 in the 2022 season.
- Jones’ 115 pitches were a season high.
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