Georgia Tech rallies in both games on Saturday to win the series against the Canes
After Chris Diaz only going four and two third innings last night the Canes were either going to need a huge offensive explosion like last night or a solid pitching performance from ace Bryan Radziewski to get them through game one of the doubleheader to rest the bullpen. While the Canes delivered the runs, they didn't deliver the pitching performance they needed as they fell to Georgia Tech in game one of the doubleheader 13-7.
It looked promising for the Canes early on as they struck for two runs in the first. Dale Carey (2-5) got things started off with a double, and after a questionable interference call on Tyler Palmer in an attempt to sacrifice bunt and a fly out from Willie Abreu, Brad Fieger came up to bat. On a full count pitch Fieger (1-4) drove in Carey delivering the first run of the game for the Canes and his fourteenth RBI of the season. Then after singles from Alex Hernandez and David Thompson, Brandon Lopez (0-3) drew a bases loaded walk for his eighth RBI of the season and making 2-0 in favor of the Canes. Things looked even better for the Canes when David Thompson (2-4) who came into the game batting .316 drove in Alex Hernandez on a stand up triple for his tenth RBI of the season and putting the score at 3-0. Later in the inning Brandon Lopez drove in Thompson from third on a fielder's choice for Lopez's second RBI of the game making it 4-0. Still in the top of the third Canes third baseman Edgar Michelangeli (1-4) hit his third double of the season driving in Lopez for Michelangeli's third RBI of the season. Even Garrett Kennedy (1-3) got into the action, Kennedy came into the game batting .167 but he even came through and delivered a single to bring in Michelangeli for his seventh RBI of the season and the fourth run of the inning for the Canes making it 6-0.
It was 6-0 for the Canes heading into the bottom of third and things were looking good but just as with last night's game Georgia Tech was not going to go away easily. Georgia Tech got on the board in the bottom of the third with Daniel Spingola (4-4) and Ryan Peurifoy (1-3) reaching on singles and after a walk to Georgia Tech catcher Arden Pabst (0-2) Radziewski had loaded the bases with no outs. First batter up was Mott Hyde (3-4) he hit a sac fly driving in Spingola making it 6-1. After a Connor Justus (1-6) ground out and a walk to Matt Gonzalez (1-3), Georgia Tech first baseman A.J. Murray (1-3) hit an infield single with the bases loaded driving in Peurifoy making it 6-2 at the end of three innings.
At the start of the fourth inning Georgia Tech had already gone into its bullpen with starting pitcher Matt Grimes being pulled after three innings pitched while allowing six runs all earned on ten hits. After nothing from the Canes in the top of the fourth inning, Georgia Tech cut into the lead again in the bottom of the inning which was started off by a Ben Gold (2-4) double and an infield single by Daniel Spingola bringing up Ryan Peurifoy. Peurifoy hit a sac fly to bring in Gold to make it 6-3. Then Mott Hyde hit a RBI single to bring in Spingola cutting into the lead and making it a 6-4 game at the end of four.
Georgia Tech got right back on the board in the bottom of the fifth with Matt Gonzalez reaching on an error and A.J. Murray drawing a walk putting Radziewski in a jam once again. After a sac bunt and a strikeout Radziewski had a chance to get out of the inning unscathed but Daniel Spingola struck again as he hit a liner off the head of Radziewski acutually knocking off his cap driving in both Gonzalez and Murray knotting the game at 6-6. Radziewski's day was done after the inning he had pitched five innings giving up six runs four earned on seven hits while walking four not the outing the Canes were hoping for after using some many arms in the bullpen the night before.
After a scoreless sixth the Canes got back on the board in the top of the seventh breaking the tie. Alex Hernandez and David Thompson both reached on walks by Georgia Tech reliever Matt Gorst. After a sac bunt by Brandon Lopez and after a wild pitch issued by new reliever Sam Clay David Thompson found himself on third base. Thompson would score on a fielder's choice off an Edgar Michelangeli grounder which would be the second RBI of the day for Michelangeli and putting the Canes back on top once again at 7-6.
However, as they had done all day long Georgia Tech continued to fight. Their persistence would finally pay off in the bottom of the eighth inning as they exploded for seven runs. Mott Hyde led the huge inning for Tech by hitting a double, next batter up Connor Justus drove him in with a base hit up the middle off of Canes reliever Javi Salas putting the game at 7-7. Next pitcher in for the Canes was Adam Sargent and the Yellow Jackets feasted on the senior righty. Matt Gonzalez the first batter to face Sargent crushed a double off the left field wall bringing in Justus giving Tech their first lead of the game and the series but they were just getting started. After Sargent had plunked A.J. Murray, up came pinch hitter Keenan Innis and he would double to right field scoring Gonzalez. Then, Brandon Gold followed right up with a double to left center scoring two more runs putting it at 11-7. Sargent was finally taken out for Thomas Woodrey and Woodrey wasn't much better. First batter up against Woodrey was Daniel Spingola who would single up the middle driving in Gold for his third RBI of the game. Woodrey would walk Ryan Peurifoy and be done after that. In came Daniel Sayles who would issue a walk to the first batter he faced, then allowed an infield Mott Hyde which drove in the seventh and final run of the inning for the Yellow Jackets, giving Hyde his third RBI of the game. The final stat line of Salas, Sargent, Woodrey and Sayles combined in the eighth inning was one inning pitched allowing seven runs on six hits while distributing two walks.
The Canes who hadn't recorded a hit since the third inning would go out quietly in the top of the ninth giving Georgia Tech the 13-7 win in the first game of the doubleheader.
Game two of the doubleheader wasn't as high scoring as the first two games of the series but was just as dramatic. As they had done all series long the Canes got on scoreboard early starting with Dale Carey (1-4) reaching on a wild pitch from a strikeout. Tyler Palmer (1-2) the next man up reached on a walk, during Brad Fieger's at bat Carey and Palmer executed a double steal putting Carey at third and Palmer at second. Then, on a 2-1 pitch Fieger (0-4) hit a RBI ground out to plate Carey making it a 1-0 lead for the Canes and giving Fieger his fifteenth RBI of the season. However, just like they did the first two games Georgia Tech rallied and got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first after Mott Hyde (1-3) reached base on a walk and stole second. A Connor Justus (1-4) ground out put Hyde at third and allowed Matt Gonzalez (0-2) to drive him in on a sac fly putting the score at one a piece.
The Canes would plate home another run in the third inning when Dale Carey hit his seventh double of the season and advanced to third on a bunt by Tyler Palmer . That would allow Willie Abreu (0-3) to drive Carey in on a sac fly for Abreu's eighth RBI of the season making it 2-1. The rest of the game however was really a pitcher's duel between Miami lefty Andrew Suarez and Georgia Tech lefty Devin Stanton. Stanton would go on to pitch six innings with only allowing two runs both earned on four hits as he exited the score was still 2-1 in favor of the Canes. Suarez was rolling having not given up a run since the first inning and kept that going until he reached the bottom of the eighth when he ran into some trouble.
Mott Hyde would double down the right field and advance to third on a ball that got away momentarily from Garret Kennedy, which would allow Matt Gonzalez to bring in Hyde on a sac fly for his second RBI of the game tying the game at two. The Canes were set aside in the top of the ninth by Georgia Tech senior righty Dusty Issacs. In the bottom of the ninth Suarez came back on the mound to try and keep the game tied and he succeeded by striking out two in the bottom of the ninth. Suarez's day was done after the ninth the lefty gave the Canes exactly what they needed and then some, Suarez finished with nine innings pitched allowing two runs both earned on four hits while striking out seven. However, Suarez's hard work would go to waste, in the top of the tenth the Canes were once again held scoreless by Issacs. Which allowed Georgia Tech to win the game in the bottom of the tenth off freshman Bryan Garcia who has been solid all year for the Canes. Pinch hitter Keenan Innis (1-1) hit a routine ground ball that was botched by Canes third baseman Edgar Michelangeli, it was Michelangeli's second error of the game and put Innis on first. Up next was Arden Pabst (1-1) who hit a single to left field and after a Mott Hyde sac bunt there were runners on second and third for Connor Justus. Then, on a 1-2 pitch from Garcia, Justus hit a liner through the left side of the field driving in Innis giving the Yellow Jackets the 3-2 walk off win and the series win.
With the loss the Canes fell to (11-9,4-2 ACC) while Georgia Tech improved to (11-9, 3-3 ACC). The next game for the Canes is Tuesday at home at 6 PM against UCF and can be heard on 90.5 WVUM.
Real quick analysis from this series:
The Canes could have easily won all three of these games or could have just as easily been swept, it really was a crazy series. However as mentioned on Wednesday errors continue to haunt this team as evident by the one Michelangeli gave up in the bottom of the tenth costing the Canes the game and also previously mentioned the bullpen is still a question mark as it got crushed in game one of the doubleheader.