After missing all of last season, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets incoming transfer Jaylen Paden would take the mound in the eighth inning.
Paden would enter the game after fellow Yellow Jackets pitcher Carson Ballard allowed a double by Old Dominion catcher Efrain Morales, which brought home run that made the score 2-2 with no outs. With runners on second and third base, the Yellow Jackets depended on Paden to get them out of the jam of the inning, and his impact on the game could not have been bigger.
Paden would strike out his first batter faced, then make a tag on a runner trying to go home in a rundown, before striking out his second batter faced in the inning to get the Yellow Jackets back in control of the game.
After Yellow Jackets outfielder Drew Burress got to third base in the bottom of the eighth inning, he would be brought home on a fielders choice to put the Yellow Jackets up 3-2.
Paden would then come out in the top of the ninth inning needing just three outs to secure the Yellow Jackets win. Paden would strike out the first two batters of the inning, then a catch on a fly ball to center field by Burress would secure the victory for the Yellow Jackets.
Paden would be credited with the win for the Yellow Jackets, pitching two innings and striking out four batters.
The Yellow Jackets headed into the game yesterday not know who would be the primary closer for the team this season, but I think that answer was given after Paden 's performance last night.