A week after a pratfall against Duke, Georgia Tech has risen up against No. 3 Miami. With a 7-5 win on Saturday afternoon at Russ Chandler Stadium, the Yellow Jackets clinched a series win over the Hurricanes, easily the team’s biggest series victory of the season.
Tech rallied from a 5-2 deficit going into the bottom of the fourth and benefited from timely hits, solid bullpen work and Hurricanes miscues to secure the result. It followed a 3-1 win for the Jackets on Friday night, when John Medich suppressed Miami’s lineup with a strong six-inning start to lead the way for Tech.
“I thought we’ve played really good for two games here,” coach Danny Hall said. “Now we’ve got to try to do it again for game 3, and I’m confident that we’ll come out and be ready to go.”
It is just the second ACC series loss out of eight for Miami (31-12 overall, 16-7 ACC) and a big recovery for Tech (27-17, 12-11), which lost a series last weekend to the last-place team in the Coastal Division (Duke) by giving up 34 runs in the three games.
The Jackets came into the series with an ERA of 8.00 and an opponent batting average of .311 in league games (both second highest in the ACC). The Jackets further had lost 12-8 to Troy on Tuesday. But through two games this weekend, the Jackets have allowed six runs and held the Hurricanes to a .211 batting average. After allowing Miami the initial 5-2 lead through 3 ½ innings, the Jackets relievers (Logan McGuire, Sam Crawford, Dawson Brown and Zach Maxwell) held the Hurricanes scoreless the rest of the way.
McGuire, who gave up two runs in 3 1/3 innings in relief of starter Marquis Grissom Jr. and was credited with the win, attributed the resurgence to a staff meeting earlier in the week.
“The biggest thing that we came to the conclusion is, screw it,” McGuire said. “Back in the fall, we had the same mindset. It was just fun, and I think that’s what we all came together and decided – that we were just going to do our own thing and screw what happens. Just go out there and pitch with intention and try and get strikes and win a ballgame.”
Down 5-2, Tech struck back in the bottom of the fourth with four runs to take a 6-5 lead. Miami helped, walking two, hitting two batsmen and allowing a single by Andrew Jenkins to score one run. With two out and the bases loaded, Drew Compton singled to score two, and then Tim Borden scored on a throwing error.
Catcher Kevin Parada hit a home run for the fourth consecutive game and now has 23 for the season, most in Division I. With his 423-foot solo blast in the bottom of the first over the left-center fence, Parada is now two shy of the school record for most home runs in a season (set in 1990 by Anthony Maisano) with at least 12 more games remaining and almost certainly more, as an NCAA Tournament berth is highly likely.
A crowd of 2,489 filled Russ Chandler. Prior to the game, Tech hall of fame pitcher Jim Poole was honored on the field for his fight against his ALS diagnosis. Rolling onto the field in a motorized wheelchair and flanked by family, Poole received a standing ovation and was caught up in emotion in addressing the crowd.
Poole spoke of being blessed to have played with a great coach (Jim Morris, who was on hand) and teammates to help Tech win four ACC titles, but that he now faced a more difficult opponent. He said he was blessed to have a new team – “All of Project ALS, my friends and my family. Together, let’s strike out ALS.”
With players and coaches from both teams standing on the warning track outside of their dugouts to honor Poole, an emotional current flowed throughout the stadium. In the stands, fans wore t-shirts with Poole’s No. 21 that were given out before the game.
“We had a great crowd (Saturday), and I don’t want to lose sight of that,” Hall said. “Jim Poole’s a great man and it took a lot of courage for him to just go out on that field today and I’m happy that he gets to celebrate this day with a win.”
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