THE FLATS – Georgia Tech baseball put on a complete performance when it needed it most, downing North Carolina 10-6 to win the series and capture its second-straight ACC Coastal Division Championship on Saturday afternoon at Mac Nease Baseball Park at Russ Chandler Stadium.
After being recognized on Senior Day, both
Luke Waddell and
Austin Wilhite combined for big at-bats and big defensive plays, finishing a combined 4-for-8 with four RBI and a double between them.
Andrew Jenkins and
Justyn-Henry Malloy went 2-for-4, while
Kevin Parada broke the game open in the third with a bases-clearing three-RBI double in the third.
Jackets Compete in NCAA Singles Championships
ORLANDO, Fla. – Competing in the NCAA Championships round of 64 singles Sunday morning, Georgia Tech’s Kenya Jones and Victoria Flores could not hold on, falling in a pair of straight set decisions.
The Jackets fell behind early, dropping both first sets to their opponents. Jones, who took a commanding 5-2 lead over No. 61 Selin Ovunc (Auburn) in the first set, held five set points against the Tiger, but couldn’t close as Ovunc battled back to win five straight games to take the opening set, 7-5. Jones took a 2-0 lead in the second set, but Ovunc rallied back and took a 4-2 advantage. Jones broke Ovunc for a 4-3 tally, but the Tiger won the next two games to seal the match in the second set, 6-3.
The Yellow Jackets (26-21, 19-15 ACC) got a tremendous start out of LHP
Brant Hurter, who went seven innings and allowed just two runs on six hits. RHP
Zach Maxwell held the game tied with an inning of work before the go-ahead run scored on a fielder’s choice RBI in the top of the ninth on LHP
Luke Bartnicki (1-2).
Tech was led at the plate by
Kevin Parada, who returned to form with a 3-for-4 outing, including the two-out two-RBI blast to put the Jackets on the board.
Brad Grenkoski also mashed a ball that just caught the top of the fence to not be a home run for a double.
• Georgia Tech finishes the regular season with a home series against North Carolina on Thursday-Friday, May 20-22.
• Georgia Tech (19-14) currently leads the Coastal Division and has more ACC wins than any team but Notre Dame (22) with six league games remaining.
• The Yellow Jackets will look to lock up its second-straight Coastal Division title and hold off Pitt, who ranks second at 16-14, but owns the head-to-head.
• Tech ranks second in the ACC in hitting (.285), first in hits (452) and doubles (102) and on-base percentage (.378) while ranking second in walks (207),
• Kevin Parada ranks 11th nationally with 18 doubles on the year, while Justyn-Henry Malloy (42) and Tres Gonzalez (38) rank second and fourth in the ACC in walks.