March 6, 2015
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TECH STARTERS: Spingola/CF, Smith/1B, Murray/DH, Johnson/RF, Gold/3B, Bailey/2B, Gonzalez/LF, Pabst/C, Justus/SS, King/SP.
ND STARTERS: Johnson/LF, Fiala/3B, Biggio/2B, Bull/DH, Youngdahl/RF, Lidge/C, Kutsulis/1B, Richards/SS, Hudgins/CF, Kerrigan/SP.
THE BASICS:
• Kel Johnson homered and Jonathan King was strong, but Notre Dame pulled out a 3-2 victory over Georgia Tech in 10 innings on Friday night at Russ Chandler Stadium in the ACC opener for the both teams.
• Kyle Fiala’s two-out RBI single in the 10th inning was the difference for the Fighting Irish, who won their 11th straight game.
• Notre Dame improved to 11-1 (1-0 ACC) with the victory, while the Yellow Jackets fell to 9-4 (0-1).
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
• The game was the second straight for Tech decided in extra innings and snapped the team’s four-game winning streak.
• Johnson’s solo home run to deep left-center, which led off the fourth inning, was his team-leading fifth blast and pulled the Jackets within 2-1.
• Tech pulled even in the seventh after Wade Bailey led off with a walk, moved to third on Matt Gonzalez’s double and scored on a wild pitch.
• Tech had a chance to equalize in the bottom of the 10th after pinch-hitter Keenan Innis led off with a single and moved to second on Connor Justus’ bunt. But Daniel Spingola rocketed a line drive to second and Innis was doubled off for the final out.
• It was the fourth double play turned by Notre Dame in the game.
• Notre Dame reliever Brad Bass pitched 2.2 scoreless innings with a pair of strikeouts to earn the win (2-0), while Peter Solomon recorded his third save.
• King tossed seven strong innings for the Jackets, allowing just two runs on four hits with three strikeouts, but did not factor in the decision.
• The tough-luck loss fell to reliever Matthew Gorst (0-2), who pitched 2.2 innings in relief of King, but was on the hook for ND’s go-ahead run.
• Thomas Smith and Johnson each had two hits for the Yellow Jackets.
• Robert Youngdahl paced the visitors with his 3-for-4, one-run, one-RBI effort.
QUOTEABLE:
• “The first inning was a key for us when we loaded the bases and banged into the double play, and then they come out and score two on us in the second. I really thought that was King’s only bad inning. He just battled and kept us in the ballgame. We didn’t do a good job a situational hitting and we hit into four double plays. It’s one game – certainly not the way we wanted to start but we get another crack tomorrow.”
–Head Coach Danny Hall
UP NEXT:
The Yellow Jackets and the Fighting Irish continue their weekend series on Saturday at Russ Chandler Stadium. First is set for 2 p.m. and the game is live on ESPN3.
