May 17, 2013
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Miami jumped on Georgia Tech with eight runs in the first two innings and held off a ninth-inning rally to defeat the Yellow Jackets, 11-7, Friday night to clinch the series at Mark Light Stadium in Coral Gables, Fla. Daniel Palka was 2-for-4 with two runs and hit his ACC-leading 16th home run.
Palka’s opposite field blast to left that rattled off the scoreboard made it 4-1 in the second, after Miami scored four times in the top of the first. The Hurricanes struck for four more in the bottom of the second and finished off their 35th win this season (35-20, 14-15), not before Tech made it interesting in the ninth.
The Yellow Jackets (32-23, 14-15) sent nine batters to the plate during a four-run ninth that made it just a four-run game. An error, a hit-by-pitch and a walk allowed Tech to load the bases with no outs, and consecutive RBI from Kyle Wren, Brandon Thomas and the first career single from Grant Wruble would end the night for Miami reliever Alexander Fernandez.
Miami turned to closer Eric Nedeljkovic, who rolled an RBI grounder to Cole Miller that made it 11-7, then nailed down his ACC-leading 13th save with back-to-back strikeouts.
David Thompson finished the night 2-for-5 with five RBI and scored three times for the Canes. He put Miami on the board with an RBI single in the first, launched a three-run home run in the second and added an RBI during Miami’s three-run sixth.
Tech tried to chip away, as Mott Hyde’s RBI made it 8-2 in the fourth, and Sam Dove drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth that cut the deficit to 8-3. But the Hurricanes added some insurance by capitalizing on a pair of errors and scored three unearned runs.
Chris Diaz pitched seven innings and allowed eight hits and three runs to earn the win (6-4), while Dusty Isaacs slipped to (4-6). Freshman Joe Wiseman tossed a career-long four innings of relieve for the Jackets with three strikeouts and three runs (none earned). DeAndre Smelter fired the final 2.1 scoreless, hitless innings with three punch outs.
Palka and A.J. Murray each had two hits for the Jackets.
The teams wrap up the regular season Saturday at 1 p.m. in a game that can be seen on CSS and ESPN3.
