Coming off of Georgia Tech’s biggest comeback of the century in which they erased a 10-0 defecit on Saturday to defeat Wake Forest 13-11, they managed to complete the series sweep, this time in the same fashion they did on Friday night, winning 6-5 in a back and forth one-run contest. It was the fourth one-run game they’ve been in this year, all four of which they have won, further proving the point that they can win games in many different ways, shapes, and forms. As a matter of fact, Wake Forest led in all three games in this series, but the Jackets just answered back all weekend. If not for the timely hitting, this series could have been a much different story.
Wake Forest scored in the first inning in this one, as they did in every game in the series, off of sophomore right-hander Jackson Blakely who was making his eighth start of the season for the Jackets. After a single and a walk to open the game, Wake Forest’s Kade Lewis, who was all over the place in the box score this weekend, drove in the first run of the game on a fielder’s choice. That wouldn’t be it for Lewis as he would go on to hit his fourth home run of the series, a solo shot in the top of the third to bring his season total up to 12.
Wake Forest sophomore right-hander Cam Bagwell was on the mound for the Demon Deacons, and his one-run lead didn’t last very long. The Jackets immediately took the lead on a Drew Burress two-run home run in the bottom of the first, his eighth of the season and 52nd of his career, tying him for fourth all-time alongside Andy Bruce in the Georgia Tech record books. Blakely and Bagwell both threw scoreless frames in the second before the scoring got started again in the third. After Kade Lewis tied the game with a solo shot, the Jackets pushed across two more on a Will Baker two-run home run, his eighth of the season and second in as many days to give the Jackets a 4-2 lead.
In the top of the fourth, Wake Forest would go on to tie the game at four. Boston Torres led off the inning with a home run, just his second of the season. After a fielding error from Ryan Zuckerman at third and a double off the bat of JD Stein to put runners on second and third with one out, Javar Williams hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game. That would be it for Blakely after closing the inning, finishing with four runs, three of which were earned, on four hits, two walks, and two strikeouts. Brett Barfield would come in to relieve him in the fifth. That was where Wake Forest would take their second and final lead of the game on a Luke Costello solo home run, his team-leading 15th home run of the season and second in as many days. It was the first earned run allowed by Barfield in over a month with his last coming against Auburn on March 17th that started a 10.1 consecutive scoreless inning streak. It was also the first home run he has allowed all season.
The fifth would be Bagwell’s final full inning as the Jackets managed to re-tie the game off of him in the bottom of the sixth to end his day. With two outs and a runner on second, Bagwell was removed for senior right-hander Will Ray who gave up an RBI-single to Carson Kerce, closing Bagwell’s line at 5.2 innings with five earned runs on five hits, three walks, and a career-high 10 strikeouts. Despite a career-high in strikeouts and enough innings to qualify, he left the game unable to earn the win, once again proving just how dynamic this Georgia Tech offense can be.
Dylan Loy took over out of the bullpen in the sixth following Barfield, throwing three scoreless innings to get through the eighth while keeping the tie intact. He struck out three while allowing two hits and one walk in his sixth multi-inning, scoreless appearance out of the bullpen this season. After a scoreless seventh inning by Will Ray, freshman left-hander Ryan Bosch took over in the eighth as the Jackets pushed one run across to take a 6-5 lead they would not relinquish. Bosch got two outs but also loaded the bases on two walks and a single, bringing Vahn Lackey to the plate with a chance to give the Jackets the lead. Wake Forest went to senior left-hander Zach Johnston to try to end the threat, but walked Lackey on four pitches to concede the lead.
Caden Gaudette came in for the ninth, looking to record the first save of his season and his Georgia Tech career as it was the heart of Wake Forest’s order up to bat, with Dalton Wentz, Luke Costello and Kade Lewis hitting, all three of which combined for seven home runs on the weekend. However, Gaudette was able to set them down in order, but not without some drama. After Wentz grounded out, Parker Brosius robbed Costello of an extra-base hit, a fly ball in the left-center field gap that nearly left the yard that was grabbed by a leaping Brosius. Lewis followed with a fly-out to Drew Burress in center, securing Gaudette’s first career save, and a series sweep over the Demon Deacons.
It was the seventh series sweep of the season for the Jackets, and their fourth in the ACC as they advanced to an ACC leading 19-5 record in-conference and 36-7 overall. With the loss, Wake Forest falls to 11-13 in the ACC and 28-17 overall. Their schedule from here on out isn’t too as they will head home to take on Louisville next weekend after playing Appalachian State in their mid-week. After that, they will get a mid-week with Liberty in between a non-conference home series with Western Carolina, and a home series with Duke to close out the schedule. With that being said, they still have a path to making the NCAA tournament as a two or three seed.
For Georgia Tech, their odds of not only hosting a regional in the NCAA tournament, but also hosting a super regional, just got a whole lot better. They remain at second in the RPI and 13-5 in quad one games. They’ll hit the road about 20 miles north of Atlanta this Tuesday for their second mid-week match-up with Kennesaw State before returning to Mac Nease over the weekend for a non-conference series with Xavier. After that, they will close their home schedule with a series against Duke and a mid-week with Mercer before hitting the road to Boston College to close their regular season schedule.
Georgia Tech and Kennesaw State Meet For Their Second Mid-week Match-up of the Season
They’ll look to improve it to seven games on Tuesday evening as they hit the road to make the quick trip up I-75 to take on the Kennesaw State Owls of Conference-USA.
Georgia Tech Erases a 10-run Defecit to Secure Series Win Over Wake Forest
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets just keep finding ways to win as it was a rain delay and a 10-run comeback that led the Jackets to their 35th win of the season and 18th in the ACC on Saturday afternoon.
Georgia Tech Grinds Out a One-run Win Over Wake Forest in Series Opener
Georgia Tech opened another home ACC series on Friday night, welcoming in the 28-14 Wake Forest Demon Deacons
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