Beesball Sweeps Doubleheader, Wins Series Against No. 13 UNC

What another great day for baseball. With the impending rainstorm coming to North Carolina on Sunday, it was decided that there would be a doubleheader on Saturday, the second for GT in as many weeks. Coming in, Tech was looking to have similar results as their last doubleheader.

The Tarheels got the scoring started first in game one of the doubleheader in the bottom of the second. With the bases loaded and two out, freshman 2B Wood Myers (who drove in a couple runs Friday) hit a two-RBI single to bring home freshman RF Adam Pate and sophomore 1B Alex Raburn.

The Yellow Jackets would fight back for their first run of the game in the next inning. With runners on first and second and one out, junior 1B Thomas Smith scorched an RBI single through the right side on the first pitch.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, North Carolina would extend their lead. After advancing to second base on a wild pitch, Adam Pate would go on to score from second on a single from freshman C Adrian Chacon.

Tech would finally tie the game up in the top of the fifth inning. After working his way onto base with a single, senior captain and 2B Mott Hyde would move to third with the combination of a fielding error and a wild pitch. With Hyde on third and sophomore LF Matt Gonzalez on second, Thomas Smith came up to bat. With a full count, Smith hit a fly ball to CF, which was deep enough to bring home Mott Hyde and advance Matt Gonzalez to third. In the next at-bat, junior DH AJ Murray singled right back up the middle to bring Gonzalez home.

The Yellow Jackets would keep the scoring going, finally taking a lead  in the top of the seventh inning. After stealing second, Mott Hyde would score from there on an AJ Murray single into right center.

The Tarheels would stay silent until their last opportunity to score came in the bottom of the ninth. With the bases loaded and only one man out, who else would come up to bat but the freshman that always seems to drive people in, Wood Myers. On the 1-0 pitch, Myers hit a single to second base that would bring home the runner on third. The Tarheels would not score again, taking the game into the second consecutive extra-inning game for both teams.

Everything would remain quiet until the thirteenth inning. With runners on first and third in the top of the thirteenth inning, freshman SS Connor Justus hit a single into LF to bring home the runner on third. The Yellow Jackets would score another run off of a bases-loaded single by senior C Mitch Earnest. Tech would have scored again, but young Connor Justus was thrown out at the plate, ending the Georgia Tech-half of the inning.

With a runner on second and one out in the bottom of the thirteenth inning, junior SS Michael Russell came up to bat for the Tarheels. He would hit a single to bring home the runner, but would be thrown out at second for the second out of the inning by Matt Gonzalez. The Tarheels would strike out in their final at-bat giving victory to the Yellow Jackets and evening up the series.

Starting game one for the Yellow Jackets was senior LHP and captain Devin Stanton. In his 5.0 innings of work, Stanton allowed three runs on six hits, striking out four batters and walking two. Pitching the next 3.1 innings was freshman RHP Matthew Gorst. He allowed one run on one hit, while striking out and walking three batters. The next 3.0 innings would be pitched by senior RHP Jonathan Roberts, who gave up no runs on six hits, striking out two batters and walking three. Coming on to face one batter was freshman LHP Tanner Shelton. The one batter he faced, he nailed with a pitch. Finishing the game up for the Yellow Jackets was senior RHP and captain Dusty Isaacs. In his 1.2 innings of work, Isaacs allowed one run on two hits and struck out a batter.

Starting game one for the Tarheels was junior RHP Benton Moss. In his 7.0 innings of work, Moss allowed four runs (three earned) on eight hits, with five strikeouts and two walks. Coming on in relief was freshman RHP Spencer Trayner. In his lone inning of work, Trayner allowed no runs on three hits and walked a batter. After failing to get anybody out in the next inning, Trayner was pulled in favor of  freshman LHP Zach Rice. In his lone inning, Rice allowed no runs on no hits and struck out two batters. Combining to pitch the next inning were three pitchers: sophomore RHP Taylore Cherry, junior RHP Trevor Kelley, and sophomore RHP Reilly Hovis. In their combined inning of work, the three pitchers allowed no runs on one hit, with no strikeouts or walks. Pitching the next 2.0 innings was sophomore LHP Henry Sisson. Sisson allowed no runs on no hits and struck out two batters, while walking one. Combining to pitch the final inning were junior RHP Luis Paula and freshman RHP AJ Bogucki. In their combined inning, the two pitchers allowed two run on three hits and walked one batter.

Getting the win for the Yellow Jackets was Dusty Isaacs, and Luis Paula was credited with the loss. The final score was 6-5

While game one of the doubleheader provided a nice, close game, game two of the double header would provide a much more satisfying curb stomp of the Tarheels.

UNC got the scoring started off early in the bottom of the first inning of game two. With a runner on second and two outs, senior DH Tom Zengel hit a single to RF to bring home what would become UNC's only run of the game.

After the first few innings, the Yellow Jackets decided to go on a scoring rampage. Starting in the top of the fourth inning, the Yellow Jackets would take the lead and never look back. With a runner on second and two men out, freshman OF Keenan Innis came up to bat. His single would be good enough to bring the runner (Thomas Smith) over to third base. Smith would score on the same play after a throwing error by the Tarheels first baseman. After loading the bases in the same inning, the Yellow Jackets would send junior OF Daniel Spingola to the plate. With a 3-2 count, Spingola was nailed by the next pitch, which not only brought a run in, but left the bases loaded for the next batter Mott Hyde. Hyde would single back up the middle to drive in two runs, but Keenan Innis, who was at first, got a little to greedy and ended up being thrown out at third base for the final out of the inning.

The Yellow Jackets' scoring rampage would continue into the top of the fifth inning. After getting a walk in the first plate appearance of the inning, Thomas Smith would come all the way from first to score off of AJ Murray's double into left-CF. A couple of batters later, Keenan Innis would bring Murray home with a single of his own.

Tech's scoring rampage would take a slight break until the last two innings. With two men on and one out in the top of the eight inning, Mott Hyde singled through the left side, scoring Arden Pabst from second base. Daniel Spingola would score from second base on the next play, a single to RF by Matt Gonzalez.

The Yellow Jackets would rap up their scoring rampage in the final inning of the game with back-to-back hits from two freshmen: Connor Justus and Keenan Innis. After doubling down the LF line, Justus would score on a Keenan Innis single into RF.

Starting game two for the Yellow Jackets was RS-junior RHP Matt Grimes. In his 7.0 innings or work, Grimes allowed only one run on eight hits. He also struck out three batters and walked two. Pitching the other 2.0 innings for Tech was freshman RHP Zac Ryan. Ryan allowed zero runs on zero hits and walked a batter.

Starting game two for the Tarheels was freshman RHP Zac Gallen. In his 4.1 innings of work, Gallen allowed six runs (four earned) on eight hits with two strikeouts and two walks. Next up for the Tarheels was freshman LHP Zach Rice. In his 1.0 inning of work, Rice allowed no runs on two hits with a strikeout and a walk. Combining to pitch the next two innings were junior RHP Trevor Kelley and sophomore RHP Taylore Cherry. In their combined 2.0 innings, the two pitchers allowed one run on no hits with a walk. Combining to finish the last 1.2 innings for the Tarheels were three pitchers (including two that did not record an out): senior LHP Tate Parrish, freshman RHP Spencer Trayner, and sophomore LHP Henry Sisson. The three pitchers combined to allow two runs on four hits with a walk.

Getting the win for the Yellow Jackets in game two by a final score of 9-1 was Matt Grimes. Zac Gallen was credited with the loss

This was a great day for the Yellow Jackets. If the Yellow Jackets can continue to surprise everybody and play this well, it will be an exciting season. Neither of these teams are bad.

Georgia Tech's next game will be a Tuesday night home game against the Mercer Bears (whose basketball team is still celebrating destroying everybody's bracket except for mine). The game is available on 91.1 FM WREK.

Quite the exciting series if I do say so myself. Can the Yellow Jackets keep it going? What changed for Tech since the beginning of the year (no one expected us to play this well)?