No. 11 Baseball Falls in Ninth Inning to Georgia Tech, 7-6
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ATLANTA Tony Plagman’s ninth-inning single scored Derek Dietrich to give No. 8 Georgia Tech a 7-6 win over No. 11 Virginia Saturday in the completion of a suspended game from Friday at Russ Chandler Stadium. The teams next will play the regularly-scheduled Saturday game at 6 p.m.
The game, featuring three ties and two lead changes, was delayed 18 hours and 51 minutes following a nasty round of thunderstorms, which was accompanied by hail, high winds and a tornado warning on Friday night. Play resumed to a cool, breezy day Saturday in Atlanta.
The loss was Virginia’s fifth one-run defeat in ACC play and sixth by two runs or fewer. UVa held a lead at one point in five of the six ACC defeats.
Matt Packer (Jr., Germantown, Tenn.) took the loss and fell to 1-3 this season. He allowed three earned runs, six hits and a walk in 1.1 innings. Georgia Tech’s Mark Pope (4-4) notched the win after recording the final out in the top of the ninth inning.
Neither starting pitcher earned a decision. Virginia starting pitcher Danny Hultzen (Fr., Bethesda, Md.) did not return to throw on Saturday after working 3.1 innings Friday night. He allowed two earned runs, three hits and two walks while striking out five. Georgia Tech starter Deck McGuire went seven innings, giving up four earned runs, six hits and two walks while fanning seven.
Phil Gosselin (So., West Chester, Pa.) and John Hicks (Fr., Sandy Hook, Va.) each recorded three hits for the Cavaliers (27-7, 8-6 ACC). Two of Gosselin’s hits were triples, and he also scored three times and drove in two. Haniger had three hits for Georgia Tech (21-7, 10-4), while Matt Skole homered and drove in three.
Georgia Tech scored the game’s first run in the third inning. With one out, Jay Dantzler fouled off several 3-2 pitches before drawing a walk. He scored when Chris House doubled down the left-field line.
After McGuire set the first nine batters down in order, Virginia’s first five batters in the fourth reached base as UVa put up three in the inning. Parker led off and hit a 3-2 McGuire offering into the evergreens in right-center. It was Parker’s 10th home run this season. Hicks then ripped a single into left field and scored when Gosselin tripled into the right-field corner.
After Dan Grovatt (So., Tabernacle, N.J.) walked, Steven Proscia (Fr., Suffern, N.Y.) fought off a two-strike pitch and blooped it to center for a single to score Gosselin.
Georgia Tech responded with a run in its half of the fourth. Haniger led off with a single and moved to second one out later when Luke Murton was hit by a pitch. Skole then blooped an 0-2 pitch into left field to score Haniger. With Jason Garofalo at the plate with a 2-2 count, the game was stopped because of lightning and a tornado warning in the area.
The game resumed Saturday, and UVa relief pitcher Tyler Wilson (So., Midlothian, Va.) needed just one pitch to induce Dantzler to hit into a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning.
The Yellow Jackets tied the game in the fifth on a two-out single by Haniger, but Virginia retook the lead in the sixth when Gosselin tripled off the right-center field wall to lead off and then scored when Grovatt grounded out.
Georgia Tech again tied the game in the seventh inning when Dietrich tripled into the right-field corner with two out to score House from first base.
Virginia took the lead back in the eighth inning. Hicks singled on the first pitch from reliever Andrew Robinson, then stole second and moved to third on a throwing error by Haniger. Gosselin singled to left to score the run. He moved to second on an errant pickoff throw by Robinson and advanced on a flyout by Proscia. Tyler Cannon (Jr., Pigeon Forge, Tenn.) then chopped an 0-2 pitch through the hole on the left side to give UVa a 6-4 lead.
The Yellow Jackets rallied to knot the score for a third time in the eighth inning, as Murton walked with one out and scored when Skole launched a home run to right field.
In the ninth, Georgia Tech got back-to-back infield singles from Dietrich and Haniger with one out and Plagman plated the winning run with a walkoff single to right.