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Cardiac Jackets Return in Opening Day Thriller

THE FLATS โ€“ No. 11 Georgia Tech baseball regained its status as Cardiac Jackets quickly on Opening Day when Andrew Jenkins walked off Wright State, 9-8, on Friday night at Mac Nease Baseball Park at Russ Chandler Stadium.

The Yellow Jackets (1-0) held a 7-3 lead before the Raiders (0-1) fought back to take an 8-7 lead heading into the bottom half of the ninth.

Jake DeLeo led off bottom ninth by reaching on a fielding error on the Wright State shortstop before Tim Borden II was hit by the very next pitch. Chandler Simpson laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move the runners to second and third, causing Kevin Parada to be intentionally walked. Jenkins then skied a ball to deep center field where the centerfielder dropped it, causing two runs to score and the Jackets to survive.

The Georgia Tech pitching staff was sensational for most of the game, falling just two strikeouts shy of the school record, finishing with 17 for the day. RHP Chance Huff dealt a terrific 5.0 innings, fanning nine and walking one, giving up only an unlucky fly ball that carried on the windy day over the fence for three runs.

RHP Marquis Grissom, Jr. then struck out four in 2.0 scoreless before LHP Joseph Mannelly fanned three to complete his inning. LHP Dalton Smith (1-0) received the win, getting the final strikeout of the top of the ninth.

At the plate, Stephen Reid led with a 2-for-5, two-RBI day while Simpson finished 2-for-3 with two stolen bases. Jake DeLeo initially catapulted Tech ahead with a two-RBI double in the fifth, while Drew Compton also finished with a double.

Georgia Tech returns for game two against Wright State on Saturday, Feb. 19 at Mac Nease Baseball Park. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ACC Network Extra and WREK 91.1 FM.

Postgame Notes:

  • Head coach Danny Hall improved to 28-1 in home openers at Georgia Tech.

Multimedia:

Postgame Press Conference (Coach Hall, Chance Huff, Andrew Jenkins)

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