LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Junior Xzavion Curry (3-0) struck out nine and allowed just one hit in a pitching duel that saw Georgia Tech baseball outlast No. 4 Louisville, 3-1, on Friday night at Jim Patterson Stadium.
Redshirt junior Tristin English closed the ninth and did so with just 13 pitches to get his third save of the year after the Yellow Jackets (15-7, 4-3 ACC) scored a run in each of the final three frames. The Cardinals’ (17-5, 5-2 ACC) struck out a combined 18 behind a big night by Reid Detmers (4-1), but surrendered five hits overall.
Georgia Tech’s offense held strong despite the on-going pitcher’s duel, chipping away with hits only in the fifth, seventh, eighth and ninth. A sac fly by Colin Hall tied up the game, before Kyle McCann hit a huge eighth-inning double to score Michael Guldberg from first.
Sophomore Baron Radcliff led the bats however, going 2-for-4 on the night, with a mammoth insurance home run in the top of the ninth with two outs. McCann and Oscar Serratos both recorded doubles as their lone hits for the game.
Louisville was held to just two hits overall with Jake Snider hitting a double in the first at-bat of the game and Tyler Fitzgerald singling to right field in the ninth.
The Yellow Jackets will look to take the series against the fourth-ranked Cardinals in Game 2 on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ACC Network Extra.
Postgame Notes:
- Georgia Tech is 7-3 in its last 10.
- Georgia Tech is now 6-2 in games decided by two runs or less.
- The win marks the second victory for Georgia Tech over a top-5 opponent this season (prev. then-No. 3 UCLA on Feb. 22).
- The Georgia Tech win snaps a six-game losing streak against Louisville dating back to 2015.
- Over the course of his 8.0 innings, Curry faced more than the minimum three batters just twice (first, seventh), retiring 16 straight at one point.
- Kyle McCann’s go-ahead RBI double in the eighth inning gives him six game-winning RBI this season and 11 for his career.
Multimedia:
Head Coach Danny Hall Postgame Interview
Right-Handed Pitcher Xzavion Curry Postgame Interview
Xzavion Curry Final Line:
8️⃣ IP
1️⃣ H
1️⃣ R
2️⃣ BB
9️⃣ K pic.twitter.com/vEZtmhn0HX— Georgia Tech Baseball (@GTBaseball) March 23, 2019
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