THE FLATS – Georgia Tech baseball fell behind early, but five RBI from John Giesler and a lockdown, one-run performance from the bullpen downed No. 9 Duke, 11-8, on Friday night at Mac Nease Baseball Park at Russ Chandler Stadium.
After the Yellow Jackets (29-18, 13-12 ACC) fell behind by four, Giesler drove in his first runs on a two-run homer in the bottom of the first to kick things off. He would then score Tech’s third run of the game on an RBI double to kickstart a four-run third inning that had sacrifice flies from Payton Green and Carson Kerce, as well as an RBI single from Cam Jones.
The ninth-ranked Blue Devils (33-15, 14-11 ACC) battled, hitting a two-run homer of their own in the fourth, but Tech responded when Matthew Ellis obliterated a ball 427 feet over the batter’s eye in the bottom half. Mike Becchetti then hit an RBI single in the fifth before Giesler continued his onslaught in the sixth with another RBI single.
After Duke pulled it to 9-8 in the top of the eighth, the Jackets refused to falter as Ellis mashed an RBI to right field and Giesler doubled in his fifth run of the evening.
Overall at the plate, Giesler went 4-for-5, while Ellis finished 3-for-4 and Jones and Becchetti had two hits apiece.
While Tech drove in runs, its bullpen battled to keep Duke from doing the same, allowing only two hits after the fourth inning and just one run. RHP Riley Stanford came in with runners on and pitched out of it for his 0.2 innings before RHP Dawson Brown (2-0) earned his second win with 2.0 shutout innings across the middle. RHP Ben King then came in and dominated with three strikeouts in 12 pitches before RHP Brett Thomas earned his first save of the season with 2.0 innings of one-run ball.
Duke was led by Alex Stone, who went 3-for-4 with a home run and four RBI. RHP Davis Boisvert (2-1) took his first loss of the season, allowing two runs on three hits in 2.0 innings of work.
Georgia Tech continues the weekend series against No. 9 Duke on Saturday, May 11. First pitch is set for 4 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ACC Network Extra.