After a thrilling win on Friday night in the second game of the series, Georgia Tech came into their series finale vs No. 4 Clemson with a chance to win their fifth straight ACC series and take a step towards finishing No. 2 in the ACC Coastal.
It was not to be though today. The offense was quite for much of the afternoon and the pitching was subpar. Combine those two things and the game is usually not going to work out in your favor. Clemson showed why they are one of the nation’s top teams and a complete victory today.
Let’s recap today’s series finale between Georgia Tech and Clemson.
Here was the lineup for the Yellow Jackets in their series finale vs Clemson today:
1. LF Trey Yunger
2. CF Drew Burress
3. DH Matthew Ellis
4. 1B Cam Jones
5. 3B John Giesler
6. SS Payton Green
7. RF Bobby Zmarzlak
8. 2B Mike Becchetti
9. C Vahn Lackey
Tate McKee was on the mound today for Georgia Tech.
It was a good start to the first inning for Georgia Tech. Yunger had a leadoff single, then stole second. Burress walked to give the Yellow Jackets two base runners with no outs. They could not find a way to take advantage though and did not score a run, with three batters striking out.
McKee had an easy 1-2-3 bottom of the 1st and the Yellow Jackets bats went back to work.
1-2-3 inning to start things off for @tatemckee1 💪 pic.twitter.com/ntvgNzXFwY
— Georgia Tech Baseball (@GTBaseball) May 5, 2024
The first run of the entire game came when Payton Green hit a leadoff home run to give Georgia Tech a 1-0 lead.
Payton Green get us going!! 382 feet 🚀@PaytonG08 | #WreckHavoc pic.twitter.com/4Im4mmTb6a
— Georgia Tech Baseball (@GTBaseball) May 5, 2024
That was the only run of the inning though and it was 1-0 going to the bottom of the 2nd and that is where the Tigers got on the board for the first time.
McKee walked the leadoff batter and the he advanced to second on a passed ball. An RBI double from the Tigers tied the game 1-1 and then another RBI double gave them the lead 2-1. McKee got the final three outs without giving up another hit, but the Yellow Jackets now trailed.
Georgia Tech got a pair of walks in the top of the 3rd, but no hits. Clemson still led going into the bottom of the 3rd.
After getting two quick outs, McKee walked a batter and then an RBI triple gave Clemson another run and it was 3-1. It was the only run of the inning, leaving plenty of time for the Georgia Tech offense to provide support. The Yellow Jackets would go down 1-2-3 in the top of the 4th though and the offense could not find a way to get anything consistent going. Parker Brosius would replace Zmarzlak in right field in the bottom of the 4th.
Clemson continued to hit well. Three straight singles got the Tigers another run to stretch the lead to 4-1. After that, the day was over for McKee, who came into this game pitching well. Brett Barfield came in for him.
Barfield got the second out and then Ben King came in for him. King could not immediately get the last out and Clemson hit a two-run home run to push the lead to 7-1. It was starting to feel like it was not going to be the day for Georgia Tech, but there was still time to make a run, much like they did in the second game of the Friday double header.
Clemson made a pitching change at the top of the 5th and despite getting a single and then a walk, Georgia Tech could not produce any runs and it was still 7-1 going to the bottom of the 5th.
Mason Patel came in for the Yellow Jackets to replace King. He gave up a leadoff double, then got the first out, then walked a batter to give Clemson two runners on with one out. A sac fly scored the Tigers another run and then Patel got a strikeout to end the inning. Clemson had a commanding 8-1 lead going into the 6th inning.
It was another 1-2-3 inning for the Yellow Jackets in the top of the 6th and the game stayed 8-1.
Dawson Brown replaced Patel to start the bottom of the 6th and then hit the leadoff batter, who then stole a base and got in scoring position. A sac fly would score the run and extend the lead to 9-1 in favor of Clemson.
After Georgia Tech went down 1-2-3 in the top of the 7th, Demitri Diamant came in to pitch for the Yellow Jackets. He got a 1-2-3 innning himself and Georgia Tech trailed 9-1 going to the top of 8th.
It was another offensive sturggle for the Yellow Jackets in the top of the 8th, going down 1-2-3 again. After eight innings, Geogia Tech only had three hits and their offense could not put any stress on the Clemson pitchers.
Terry Busse came in for Diamant in the 8th inning and got through the Tigers lineup without giving up a hit. Georgia Tech had to score at least eight runs in the 9th inning alone just to keep the game going.
They did not go down without a fight though. Green got a leadoff single, then Brosius came up to the plate and hit a two-run home run to cut the lead to 9-3
Big blast from @BrosiusParker scores two! pic.twitter.com/JuNhEWWa4a
— Georgia Tech Baseball (@GTBaseball) May 5, 2024
That would be it though. Clemson got the three straight outs and got the series win. Georgia Tech now falls to 28-17 and 12-12 in the ACC. They will have a midweek matchup with Auburn at home on Tuesday and then their final home ACC series vs Duke next weekend.
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