After losing four of its previous five series, including last weekend to Kennesaw State, Georgia Tech ended its slump with a sweep of Clemson this weekend at Russ Chandler Stadium.
The Yellow Jackets completed just their second series sweep of the season — and their first of Clemson since 2010 — with a 9-8 win on Sunday after they had trailed 6-0 after three innings. The performance lifted Tech (24-18 overall, 18-12 ACC) into first place in the Coastal Division.
“Just a great team weekend,” coach Danny Hall said. “Anytime you sweep somebody in our league, you’ve just got to be proud of your team, and hats to our guys for just grinding all weekend. Clemson’s a good baseball team, so we’re very fortunate and very happy to get all three wins.”
Coming into the weekend, Tech had been in a prolonged funk since the start of April. After starting the season 14-7 — during which the Jackets hit .304 — they had followed that with a 7-11 mark in their next 18 games during which they hit .256. Prior to the weekend, Hall lamented that his team’s lack of consistency.
“When we’ve done it consistently, we’ve beaten some really good teams,” he said. “So we know that if we do it, that we’re capable of beating anybody. It’s just more that than anything.”
They hit .297 over the three games against Clemson (22-21, 15-15), which had won its seven previous games and whose season opponent batting average was .259 prior to this weekend. Tech hit its highest average for a series in its past eight weekends. Their seven-run outburst in the fourth inning — six consecutive hits, including John Anderson’s two-run home run — was the most scored against an ACC opponent in one inning since putting up seven in one turn at bat against the same Tigers in April 2019.
Further, the Jackets managed the sweep without freshman catcher and leading hitter Kevin Parada, who was out with what Hall termed “kind of an unusual reaction to a treatment.” Hall said Parada, whose .335 batting average leads all regulars, was day-to-day.
In his place, Cameron Turley caught all 27 innings and also graduated on Saturday. In three-plus seasons at Tech, Turley had played in a total of 34 games and started four before this weekend.
Batting ninth, Turley was 2-for-8, got on base two more times via walk and hit batsman, scored twice, drove in one run and also contributed two sacrifices.
“It was awesome, for sure,” Turley said. “Especially with the sweep, it was everything I could have asked for – doing my job, helping the tea win – it was awesome.”
Said Hall, “I can’t say enough about Cam Turley. What he did this weekend – catch all three games, do a good job of catching, contribute the way he did offensively – he had a great weekend and honestly, just unsung hero for our team.”
Two more obvious contributors were Brant Hurter, Friday’s starting pitcher, and third baseman Justyn-Henry Malloy.
After three consecutive subpar starts, Tech’s ace went seven innings against the Tigers, limiting them to one run on five hits with eight strikeouts against no walks in a 6-1 Tech win.
Saturday, Malloy clinched the series win with a solo walk-off home run with two out in the bottom of the ninth for a 6-5 win. It was his eighth home run of the season, tied for the team lead with Drew Compton.
In that game, reliever Chance Huff recorded the final two outs in the top of the ninth with an inherited runner on second to keep the game tied at 5, and then on Sunday earned the save with a scoreless ninth. Huff has now gone three appearances (2 2/3 innings) without allowing a run; his ERA was 10.80 prior to that in 13 1/3 innings. Huff was motivated earlier in the season after being left off the travel roster for a weekend series at Duke.
“That was a surprise and just kind of tough to hear and see, but I just knew that I wasn’t going to get to where I wanted to be by not doing anything about it, Huff said. “So I just started working harder, working on what me and (pitching coach Danny Borrell) talked about at practices and just putting in the extra time to make sure that I fixed what I needed to fix and I could get back in the opportunities that I wanted to get back into.”
Going into Tech’s three-game series at Miami starting next Friday, Hall still has some problems to solve with his starting pitching. Saturday starter Andy Archer had another bumpy start (four runs allowed in five innings) and Sunday starter Marquis Grissom Jr., gave up five runs in 1 2/3 innings. Tech’s 5.64 ERA and .269 opponent batting average are both second to last in the ACC.
But, as the Jackets continue their search, their vantage point — first place in the Coastal — is markedly preferable.
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