April 26, 2015
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Box Score | Photo Gallery TECH STARTERS: Innis/CF, Bailey/2B, Gonzalez/3B, Murray/RF, Johnson/DH, Smith/1B, Justus/SS, Peurifoy/LF, Pabst/C, Gold/SP.
CU STARTERS: White/SS, Duggar/RF, Krieger/2B, Rohlman/LF, Okey/C, Pinder/DH, Slaton/CF, Wilson/3B, Cox/1B, Koerner/SP.
THE BASICS:
· Georgia Tech rallied with two runs in the bottom of the 10th inning and Ryan Peurifoy’s two-out RBI single was the game-winner as the Yellow Jackets walked off with a 5-4 win over Clemson in the rubber-game of the series at Russ Chandler Stadium.
· Sophomore Brandon Gold pitched a career-long, nine-inning gem as Tech improved to 7-1 this season in weekend rubber-game (5-1 in the ACC).
· The Yellow Jackets improved to 26-17 overall and 11-13 in the ACC, while the Tigers fell to 23-21, 12-11.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
· After Clemson had taken a 4-3 lead in the top of 10th, A.J. Murray kicked-started Tech’s rally by drawing a one-out walk off Clemson reliever Clate Schmidt.
· Thomas Smith followed two batters later by stroking a two-out single to right. In the next at-bat, Connor Justus hammered a laser up the middle that scored Murray as the tying run. Peurifoy ended it in the next at-bat by chopping a 1-1 offering from Schmidt through the right side for the walk-off win.
· Tech grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first thanks to a two-run home run to right from Matt Gonzalez.
· Clemson got one back in second, then got a pair of solo homers from Weston Wilson and Steven Duggar to grab a 3-2 lead in the fifth.
· The hosts drew even in the home half of the fifth as Smith’s RBI single scored Bailey, who led off the inning with the second of two doubles down the left-field line.
· It remained 3-3 until Clemson grabbed a 4-3 advantage in the 10th on an RBI single to left from Reed Rohlman.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
· Sunday’s victory was the Yellow Jackets’ 14th come-from-behind win this year and improved Tech to 3-1 in extra-inning games and 9-3 in one-run games.
· Tech is now out-scoring the opposition 65-31 in the eighth inning and beyond.
· Justus, Smith, Gonzalez and Bailey each had two of Tech’s nine hits. Bailey scored twice. Smith drew two walks, while Murray matched a career-high with three walks.
· Gold pitched a career-long nine innings, allowing eight hits and three runs with one walk and seven strikeouts. His previous career-long was eight innings versus Notre Dame on March 8, 2015.
· Gold’s nine-inning effort was the longest by a Tech starter since Josh Heddinger tossed a complete-game shutout versus Vanderbilt in the 2013 Nashville Regional.
· Tech has won three times this season via walk-off hits. It was the first walk-off hit of Peurifoy’s career, and his second career game-winning RBI.
· Smith scored his fourth game-winning run this season — the ninth of his career.
· The Jackets won a series over Clemson for the first time since 2010. The Tigers lead the all-time series by a narrow 108-106-3 margin.
· Sophomore Zac Ryan, who was also the winning pitcher on Friday, pitched the 10th inning and earned Sunday’s victory (7-1).
· Tech’s defense played error-free for the second straight game, turned two more double plays and recorded another outfield assist. The Jackets finished the series with just one error (a catcher’s interference), turned five double plays and recorded five outfield assists — three of which erased runs at the plate.
QUOTABLE:
“It was tough coming into that inning (the 10th), having given up a run knowing the inning before we had an opportunity to win the game. But we knew what we had to do. A.J. (Murray) drew a great walk, Smitty (Thomas Smith) was clutch with a base hit and then Cono (Connor Justus) had the clutch-est hit of the night. He kept the game going, tied it up and took a little pressure of me.”
–Sophomore Ryan Peurifoy
“This team won’t back down and I know they won’t quit. We had a lot of opportunities early to get a guy in from third. But Brandon Gold was outstanding. He handled all the adversity. He handled us not scoring and kept them at bay. It was unfortunate that Zac (Ryan) gave up a run there, but we bailed him out. Connor (Justus) had a big base hit to tie the game, and then Peurifoy with the game winner. All the credit goes to those guys. We played hard all weekend. And again, another Sunday where we get a series win with Gold pitching.”
–Head Coach Danny Hall
UP NEXT: The Yellow Jackets have the week off for final exams and will next host Presbyterian on Saturday at Russ Chandler. The doubleheader begins at 1 p.m.
