The winner of Georgia Tech’s road series at North Carolina this weekend wasn’t the team that hit .341 for the series and launched eight home runs. Rather, it was the team that hit 10 home runs, chased two starting pitchers before they could get to end of the second inning and thrashed one of the top pitching staffs in the country. That would be the Yellow Jackets, who won their second ACC series in a row by defeating the Tar Heels 15-12 on Friday and 11-8 on Sunday between a 10-5 loss on Saturday.
“You win a series in the ACC, that’s huge,” coach Danny Hall said. “This is a big road series win for us and we’ve just got to keep going.”
Tech’s pitching staff, second to last in the ACC in ERA (5.82) and opposing batting average (.278) at the start of the series, continued its search for answers. But Tech’s bats were once again potent and carried the Jackets to the series win that improved the team’s record to 23-14 overall and 9-9 in the ACC, good for fifth in the Coastal Division, although second and sixth place are separated by two games.
Sunday, with the series on the line, Tech managed to hit just 2-for-14 with runners on base. But they were home runs and both were with the bases loaded. Grand slams by Kevin Parada in the second and Tim Borden in the ninth did the bulk of the damage for the Jackets. Borden’s blast added to a 7-6 lead and built margin as the Tar Heels scored two in the bottom of the ninth for the final 11-8 score. It’s believed that it was Tech’s first game with multiple grand slams since an 18-12 win over Rutgers in 2007. John Medich came in for the final out of the game for the save. Dawson Brown got the win with 1-1/3 innings of scoreless relief after getting the save in the Friday win.
Tech, in fact, scored all of its runs via home run on Sunday, with Tres Gonzalez, Colin Hall and Borden also cranking solo home runs. Borden hit three home runs in the series, as did Parada. The sophomore catcher now has 18 for the season, most in the ACC, and is hitting .383. Borden was 5-for-13 in the series with 9 RBI and is hitting .344 for the season.
Tech’s 31 runs on the weekend were the most that UNC (22-14, 8-10) has given up in a three-game series this season, as the Jackets continue to put up outsized numbers as the plate. Prior to the weekend, they were second in Division I in batting average (.327), fifth in slugging percentage (.544) and ninth in runs per game (9.5). They were also, however, 122nd in fielding percentage (.969), 178th in ERA (5.82) and 279th in double plays per game (.38).
“Marquis (Grissom Jr.) pitched really good,” Hall said of his Sunday starter. “We messed him up. We just made some bad plays in the field, had a chance to get him out of there (in the fifth with a double-play chance) and didn’t turn it and then, as usually happens, the other team gets a little momentum, scored some runs on him. And then everybody else that went in there got us some outs.”
Tech plays at home against Mercer Tuesday before a home weekend series against Duke.
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