April 25, 2017
THE FLATS – The Yellow Jackets outhit the Georgia Bulldogs 11-10 and hit not one, but two solo home runs in the contest, yet were unable to stop Georgia who scored all seven of its runs with two outs to fall to the visitors in red and black 7-5 on Tuesday night at Russ Chandler Stadium.
The loss drops GT to 20-20 overall on the season, while with the win the Bulldogs improved to 17-25 overall on the year.
Four different Jackets had an RBI on the night, as Trevor Craport was 3-for-5 with three singles, an RBI and a stolen base, while Ryan Peurifoy went 2-for-4 with a home run, an RBI and run scored. Freshman Kyle McCann went 1-for-3 with a solo home run, while Coleman Poje was 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Shortstop Austin Wilhite went 2-for-4 with a run scored, pushing his hitting streak out to five straight games.
Georgia’s Tucker Bradley was 4-for-5 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored at the top of the order, while Michael Curry went 2-for-5 with a home run, three RBIs and a run scored. Tucker Maxwell was 1-for-3 with two RBIs at the plate, while the other RBI came off the bat of LJ Talley who was 1-for-3 with a walk, an RBI and a run scored.
The loss went to Tech’s Ben Schniederjans (2-4), as the righty gave up four runs on just two hits, but was hampered by five walks on the night over 3.2 innings of work. He also struck out three UGA batters, as the Jackets struck out nine batters on the night.
UGA’s Kevin Smith (2-4) picked up the win, going 4.0 innings on what was declared a staff day by the Bulldogs prior to first pitch. Smith gave up one run on five hits, one walk and struck out three. Drew Moody (1) earned his first save of the season.
Neither team could get anything going offensively early until the Bulldogs took advantage of two walks and a two-out RBI single by Talley to take a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth. The Bulldogs then got another walk to load the bases before back-to-back singles scored three more runs for the visitors who took a 4-0 lead midway through the fourth.
The Jackets got a run back in the bottom half of the inning on an RBI double down the right field line by Poje and then a second run one inning later on a solo shot to deep right field by McCann to cut the UGA lead to two at 4-2 after five complete.
However, Georgia used the long ball in the top of the seventh by way of a two-run shot off the bat of Curry to extend its lead out to 6-2 at the seventh-inning stretch.
Tech’s Peurifoy led off the top of the seventh with a monster home run to left field to put the Jackets down just three at 6-3 with two innings to play.
After Georgia added an insurance run in the ninth on a hard hit single to third that was almost fielded by Craport, but let a runner score from second to put the Bulldogs in front at 7-3, the Jackets refused to go down quietly in the bottom of the ninth by loading the bases and bringing the tying run to the plate.
Wilhite led off the bottom of the ninth with a double to center field. After a Peurifoy single to right and the throw to home plate let the outfielder move up to second, the Jackets had runners on second and third with no outs.
Following a McCann walk to load the bases, the next Jacket batter struck out on a pitch in the dirt which allowed Wilhite to score from third and put the score at 7-4. A one-out RBI ground ball to the shortstop put the Jackets down just two at 7-5, before a second ground ball to the left side of the infield ended the home team’s rally to let the Bulldogs escape with the 7-5 road win.
The Jackets stranded seven runners on base, while the Bulldogs left six on the bags for the contest.
Georgia Tech (20-20, 6-15 ACC) will step out of ACC weekend play this weekend to take on the UIC Flames on Friday and Saturday, April 28-29, in Chicago, Illinois.
Tech Tidbits
* Georgia Tech is now 5-2 versus its in-state foes thus far this season.
* The loss drops Tech to 7-3 overall on the season in midweek games.
* With two home runs on Tuesday night, the Jackets have now hit 11 home runs over their last five games.
* Kel Johnson has now reached base safely in a season-high 20 straight contests a walk.
* Ryan Peurifoy continued his hitting streak, pushing it out to eight straight games with two hits on the night.
* Austin Wilhite extended his hitting streak to five straight games.
* Wade Bailey has now reached base safely in 12 straight games with a single.
For the latest information on the Georgia Tech baseball team, follow us on Twitter (@GTBaseball), Facebook, Instagram (@gt_baseball) or visit us at www.ramblinwreck.com.
