Georgia Tech’s normally-explosive offense was held in check by 10 different Georgia pitchers, and the Bulldogs used a pair of long balls in the fourth inning to make the difference in their 5-2 victory on Tuesday night at Truist Park in the Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate version on the diamond.
Georgia Tech (29-8) rallied for a run in the top of the fourth to tie the game at 2-2, but Georgia (33-6) quickly answered with three in the bottom half thanks to a solo homer from Devin Obee and a two-run shot by Kolby Branch. That three-run lead ended up being the final margin as the Jackets were unable to come up with timely hits when they needed them.
“It’s hard when you’re facing one guy every inning. It’s hard to kind of get in a rhythm,” said Georgia Tech head coach Danny Hall after the loss. “Usually if you see a guy twice, you have a chance to make adjustments. But they ran a bunch of arms at us, a bunch of good arms, and they kind of got the better of us. We had a few chances with a few with some people in scoring position and couldn’t get the hit. And that’s kind of the story of the game.”
Alton Davis (3-0) earned the win in relief for Georgia thanks to 1/3 of an inning of work as he gave up one hit but got a big out to end a Jackets’ threat in the fourth. Jordan Stephens got his third save thanks to a spotless ninth in which he struck out one.
Bulldogs’ pitchers JT Quinn, Nate Taylor, Davis Chastain, Charlie Goldstein, Eric Hammond and Matthew Hoskins all pitched scoreless innings in the win also.
Carson Ballard (1-3) took the loss for Georgia Tech after he pitched well other than running into trouble in the fourth. He went 4 2/3 innings in relief and gave up three runs on five hits with six strikeouts and one walk.
Brett Barfield, Porter Buursema and Connor Chicoli also pitched for the Jackets with Buursema and Chicoli combining for three innings of scoreless relief with three strikeouts. Barfield got the start and allowed two runs on two hits with two walks in 1/3 of an inning.
“I thought (Ballard) threw it good. He made a couple mistakes in the inning where they hit the homers,” said Hall. “Obee kind of got a hanging breaking ball, and we’ve seen Branch before. He’s got a lot of power, and kind of the same thing there, he got a ball up in the zone and he hit it.”
Georgia scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the first on an RBI single by Ryland Zaborowski and a bases-loaded walk by Nolan McCarthy. They appeared to add two more runs on a throw that got away on a potential double play, but the original play was overturned due to an interference ruling at second base, sending the game to the second at 2-0.
The Jackets got on the board to cut the deficit in half in the third when Will Baker went deep for a solo homer to the Chop House in right field to make it 2-1.
Baker came up big again in the top of the fourth with a two-out, RBI single to tie the game at 2-2.
Georgia immediately responded in the bottom of the fourth with a pair of long balls to go up 5-2. Obee had a solo homer followed a few batters later by a two-run blast from Branch.
“You’d like to have a shutdown inning there once your team scores to tie or go ahead,” said Hall. “You would hope your pitcher can go out and put a zero up there, but it didn’t happen. Those guys (UGA) they’ve got a good offense, and when they got a couple mistakes they hit them.”
Georgia Tech’s best chance to cut into the deficit came in the eighth when runners reached second and third with two outs, but a strikeout by Carson Kerce ended the inning and kept the score at 5-2 in favor of the Bulldogs.
Zaborowoski, Christian Adams and Henry Hunter each finished with two hits for Georgia while Obee and Branch had the two homers.
Baker was the lone Georgia Tech player with multiple hits as he was 2-for-4 with the homer and two RBIs. Caleb Daniel added a double, and Nathanael Coupet had the only other hit for the Jackets.
Georgia Tech’s top three hitters combined to go 0-for-10 on the night with five strikeouts and two walks.
Georgia Tech will jump back into ACC play this weekend with a trip to battle Miami for three games starting Friday with an 8 p.m. first pitch. They will then complete the series with a 4 p.m. start Saturday and a 1 p.m. start Sunday.
Georgia is also on the road in conference play later in the week, traveling to Nashville for a three-game SEC series at Vanderbilt with 7 p.m. Eastern starts Thursday and Friday and a 3 p.m. start Saturday afternoon.
Georgia Tech’s normally-explosive offense was held in check by 10 different Georgia pitchers, and the Bulldogs used a pair of long balls in the fourth inning to make the difference in their 5-2 victory on Tuesday night at Truist Park in the Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate version on the diamond.
Georgia Tech (29-8) rallied for a run in the top of the fourth to tie the game at 2-2, but Georgia (33-6) quickly answered with three in the bottom half thanks to a solo homer from Devin Obee and a two-run shot by Kolby Branch. That three-run lead ended up being the final margin as the Jackets were unable to come up with timely hits when they needed them.
“It’s hard when you’re facing one guy every inning. It’s hard to kind of get in a rhythm,” said Georgia Tech head coach Danny Hall after the loss. “Usually if you see a guy twice, you have a chance to make adjustments. But they ran a bunch of arms at us, a bunch of good arms, and they kind of got the better of us. We had a few chances with a few with some people in scoring position and couldn’t get the hit. And that’s kind of the story of the game.”
Alton Davis (3-0) earned the win in relief for Georgia thanks to 1/3 of an inning of work as he gave up one hit but got a big out to end a Jackets’ threat in the fourth. Jordan Stephens got his third save thanks to a spotless ninth in which he struck out one.
Bulldogs’ pitchers JT Quinn, Nate Taylor, Davis Chastain, Charlie Goldstein, Eric Hammond and Matthew Hoskins all pitched scoreless innings in the win also.
Carson Ballard (1-3) took the loss for Georgia Tech after he pitched well other than running into trouble in the fourth. He went 4 2/3 innings in relief and gave up three runs on five hits with six strikeouts and one walk.
Brett Barfield, Porter Buursema and Connor Chicoli also pitched for the Jackets with Buursema and Chicoli combining for three innings of scoreless relief with three strikeouts. Barfield got the start and allowed two runs on two hits with two walks in 1/3 of an inning.
“I thought (Ballard) threw it good. He made a couple mistakes in the inning where they hit the homers,” said Hall. “Obee kind of got a hanging breaking ball, and we’ve seen Branch before. He’s got a lot of power, and kind of the same thing there, he got a ball up in the zone and he hit it.”
Georgia scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the first on an RBI single by Ryland Zaborowski and a bases-loaded walk by Nolan McCarthy. They appeared to add two more runs on a throw that got away on a potential double play, but the original play was overturned due to an interference ruling at second base, sending the game to the second at 2-0.
The Jackets got on the board to cut the deficit in half in the third when Will Baker went deep for a solo homer to the Chop House in right field to make it 2-1.
Baker came up big again in the top of the fourth with a two-out, RBI single to tie the game at 2-2.
Georgia immediately responded in the bottom of the fourth with a pair of long balls to go up 5-2. Obee had a solo homer followed a few batters later by a two-run blast from Branch.
“You’d like to have a shutdown inning there once your team scores to tie or go ahead,” said Hall. “You would hope your pitcher can go out and put a zero up there, but it didn’t happen. Those guys (UGA) they’ve got a good offense, and when they got a couple mistakes they hit them.”
Georgia Tech’s best chance to cut into the deficit came in the eighth when runners reached second and third with two outs, but a strikeout by Carson Kerce ended the inning and kept the score at 5-2 in favor of the Bulldogs.
Zaborowoski, Christian Adams and Henry Hunter each finished with two hits for Georgia while Obee and Branch had the two homers.
Baker was the lone Georgia Tech player with multiple hits as he was 2-for-4 with the homer and two RBIs. Caleb Daniel added a double, and Nathanael Coupet had the only other hit for the Jackets.
Georgia Tech’s top three hitters combined to go 0-for-10 on the night with five strikeouts and two walks.
Georgia Tech will jump back into ACC play this weekend with a trip to battle Miami for three games starting Friday with an 8 p.m. first pitch. They will then complete the series with a 4 p.m. start Saturday and a 1 p.m. start Sunday.
Georgia is also on the road in conference play later in the week, traveling to Nashville for a three-game SEC series at Vanderbilt with 7 p.m. Eastern starts Thursday and Friday and a 3 p.m. start Saturday afternoon.
