April 4, 2015
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TECH STARTERS: Spingola/CF, Peurifoy/RF, Gonzalez/3B, Murray/DH, Smith/1B, Justus/SS, Bailey/2B, Innis/LF, Pabst/C, Pitts/SP.
VT STARTERS: Jenco/CF, Cooper/RF, Perez/2B, Payne/3B, Hayden/DH, Caples/LF, Keselica/1B, Mogg/C, Surum/SS, Woodcock/SP.
THE BASICS:
· Georgia Tech took the lead in the top of the ninth, but Virginia Tech plated a pair of runs in the bottom half and walked off with a 9-8 win on Saturday to even the teams’ weekend series at English Field.
· Matt Gonzalez drove in three more runs for the Yellow Jackets, who let late leads of 7-5 in the seventh and 8-7 in the ninth slip away.
· The Jackets fell to 20-11 overall and 6-8 in the ACC, while the Hokies improved to 17-15, 7-7.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
· Sean Keselica was 4-for-5 with four RBI to lead the Hokies and his two-out RBI single in the ninth tied the game. In the next at-bat, with runners at the corners, Andrew Mogg chopped a ball to second that Wade Bailey charged. He chose to flip to second for the force out, but the ball slipped out of his glove and the error allowed the winning run to score.
· The Hokies rallied twice in Saturday’s game, scoring two in the seventh to tie the game at 7-7 and then two more in the ninth.
· Keselica’s three-run double in the second gave the hosts an early 3-0 lead.
· Georgia Tech answered right back and pulled even in the third as Gonzalez’s RBI put the Jackets on the board and Thomas Smith followed with a game-tying, two-out, two-run single to left.
· Virginia Tech regained the lead with a two-run fifth, but lefty Ben Parr entered and promptly rolled an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded.
· A four-run, four-hit sixth inning gave the Jackets the lead back at 7-5. Grant Wruble’s pinch-hit RBI single was followed by a two-run single from Gonzalez and a sac fly from A.J. Murray.
· In a tie game at 7-7, Murray got the ninth started with a single. A sac bunt from Smith moved Murray to scoring position and Bailey’s two-out knock to left scored him as the go-ahead run.
· The tough-luck loss fell to Zac Ryan (5-1), who allowed two runs (one earned) in his 1.2 innings on the mound.
· Aaron McGarity, who was scheduled to start Saturday’s game, entered in relief and tossed the final two innings and fell into the win (3-3).
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
· Gonzalez continued his hot hitting versus the Hokies as the junior is now 16-for-41 (.390) with seven runs and 10 RBI in nine career games against VT.
· Daniel Spingola extended his reached-base streak to 22 games, which is a career high. The senior reached base four times Saturday via a single, two walks and a hit-by-pitch and scored twice.
· Bailey was 2-for-4 with an RBI
· Arden Pabst extended his hitting streak to six games by going 1-for-2 with two runs and two walks.
· Georgia Tech used six pitchers in relief of starter Cole Pitts, who worked 4.1 innings with five hits, four runs and five strikeouts.
· Tech’s three-game road winning streak was snapped with the loss.
QUOTEABLE:
“We blew two leads late, and that was the story. Wade Bailey had a great at-bat in the ninth to get a two-out hit and give us the lead. But he made a mistake on the ball in the ninth inning. He made a great play to come and get it, but he’s just got to take the out at first base and we’re still playing. Certainly a tough way to lose, but we’ve got to bounce back and be ready to go tomorrow.”
–Head Coach Danny Hall
UP NEXT: The Yellow Jackets and Hokies wrap up the three-game set Sunday at English Field. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. and the rubber game can be heard live on WREK 91.1 FM in Atlanta. Live audio can also be accessed at RamblinWreck.com and via WREK on the TuneIn app.
