May 21, 2016
THE FLATS – No. 22 Georgia Tech stumbled out of the gates and was unable to overcome early four-run deficits Saturday as Boston College swept both games of the doubleheader (8-3, 7-6) at Russ Chandler Stadium.
With the doubleheader sweep, Boston College (31-19, 13-15 ACC) punched its ticket to next week’s ACC Tournament, while Georgia Tech (35-20, 13-16 ACC) earned its spot by virtue of a NC State win.
No. 8 seed Boston College and No. 9 seed Georgia Tech will meet for a fourth straight game Tuesday at 3 p.m. in a single-elimination game at the ACC Tournament.
THE BASICS
• With the two losses, Georgia Tech suffered its fifth straight losing record in the ACC.
• Georgia Tech finished the season with a 23-11 record at home.
• Georgia Tech has now lost five of its last six games against Boston College.
• 35 of Tech’s 55 games this season have been played in less than three hours. Georgia Tech is 27-9 (20-3 at home) in games played in less than three hours.
• Georgia Tech is 34-3 when allowing fewer than eight runs in a game this season (12-2 in ACC play) and 1-16 when allowing eight or more runs in a game (1-13 in ACC).
QUOTEBOARD
“This was not the day we wanted. It’s a disappointing way to end the regular season. In the first game, we did walk too many batters and gave them some easier chances to score. We couldn’t keep them from scoring. In the second game, we had missed opportunities time and time again. We had the guys at the plate we wanted (with runners on), but we couldn’t do it enough time times to beat them.” – Georgia Tech head coach Danny Hall
HOW IT HAPPENED – GAME 1
• Boston College tacked on runs in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th innings to take a 4-0 lead.
• Georgia Tech would get on the board in the 6th thanks to a Matt Gonzalez sacrifice fly to right and a Justin Dunn balk that scored Wade Bailey.
• However, the two-run deficit would be as close as Tech could get as Boston College put it out of reach with a 4-run 8th inning.
• Kel Johnson scored on a fielding error in the 9th.
HOW IT HAPPENED – GAME 2
• Game 2 started in a similar fashion as Boston College jumped out to a 4-0 lead. The Eagles scored once in the 1st and added three more in the 2nd.
• Kel Johnson drove in Tech’s first run with an RBI single to center in the 3rd.
• Boston College went back up four with an RBI single in the 4th.
• Tech responded in the 4th with a Ryan Peurifoy solo home run to left, cutting Boston College’s lead to 5-2.
• The Eagles responded again with two runs in the 5th to extend their lead to 7-2.
• Peurifoy drove in a second run in the 5th with an infield RBI single, cutting the lead to 7-3.
• Georgia Tech rallied in the 7th with three runs to pull to within one, 7-6. Wade Bailey hit a 2-RBI single through the right side and Matt Gonzalez followed with an RBI single to left.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• With two hits in the second game, Matt Gonzalez tied Jay Payton for 5th on Tech’s career hits list with 287 career hits.
• Gonzalez also tied Jason Basil for the school record with 21 career sacrifice flies.
• In the first game, Gonzalez recorded his ninth outfield assist of the season and his seventh throw out at home.
• Wade Bailey finished the doubleheader 6-for-9 with 2 RBI.
• Georgia Tech left a season-high 15 batters on base in the second game.
UP NEXT
No. 22 Georgia Tech and Boston College will meet for the fourth straight game in a single-elimination play-in game Tuesday at the ACC Tournament in Durham, N.C.
For the latest information on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, follow us on Twitter (@GTBaseball), Facebook (facebook.com/GTbaseball) or visit us at www.ramblinwreck.com.
