Georgia Tech Baseball: Jackets claim the state in win over UGA

Georgia Tech baseball claimed the state of Georgia on Tuesday night when they took down UGA at SunTrust Park by a final of 8-6.

The largest crowd to watch a college baseball game in 2019 saw a good one on Tuesday night at SunTrust Park. It was a battle between two fierce rivals who both happened to be ranked in the top-15 entering the third and decisive game of their season series.

The No.11 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets sent Curt Roedig to the mound for the weekday start while No.4 UGA sent Tim Elliot to the mound. Neither starter would last all that long on Tuesday night, Roeig lasted just three innings, surrendering four runs (three earned) over the course of three hits and one walk. Elliot, on the other hand, lasted just 1.1 innings, giving up six runs on four hits and four walks.

The Jackets bullpen came in clutch throughout their six innings of relief on Tuesday night, allowing just two runs despite getting into a few jams including Luke Bartinicki who pulled magic out of his hat to get out of a tough fifth inning that one point saw the bases loaded with one out. Hugh Chapman picked up the win for the Yellow Jackets, his first of the season while Tristin English picked up his fifth save.

Offensively, an early start for the Yellow Jackets, picking up seven runs in the first three innings proved to be all they would need but also came in handy for UGA’s eventual run on the scoreboard later in the game.

The top of the Jackets order came up huge on Tuesday, knocking in all eight RBI for the Jackets and totaling four of their six hits. Leadoff hitter and shortstop Luke Waddell nearly completed a cycle in front of over 18,000 people, coming up just a home run shy. He also knocked in three runs for the game. Power hitting catcher Kyle McCann only had one hit on Tuesday night but it was a big one as he hit a monster three-run bomb over the Chop House in right field.

Michael Guldberg and Tristin English would pick up the other remaining RBI on the evening for the Yellow Jackets.

Entering the fourth inning, the Yellow Jackets had a 7-2 lead over the Bulldogs but UGA would plate three runs in the inning. The Jackets would pick up an insurance run in the eighth inning, making it an 8-5 game. As mentioned above, UGA found themselves in some favorable positions at the plate late in the game but were unable to get the job done, only getting one run on the board in the sixth before the Jackets shut down the Bulldogs in the final three frames.

For the Yellow Jackets, the win gives them the series victory for the season taking two out of three games. It also moved their impressive weekday record to 10-1 on the season (that lone loss coming to UGA) while improving their overall record to a 28-13 on the season. They’re also 15-5 in non-conference play despite playing one of the hardest non-conference schedules in the country this season.

Georgia Tech will now turn their attention to the Clemson Tigers this weekend in a huge ACC series. The Yellow Jackets are red hot of late while Clemson is losers of eight straight games. That being said, the Jackets are tied with North Carolina atop the ACC Coastal standings with both teams having a 13-8 conference record.