Four-Run Seventh Inning Pushes Georgia Tech Past Notre Dame In ACC Opener

Georgia Tech Baseball is now 12-2 this season

Author:
Jackson Caudell
Publish date:
Mar 10, 2023 9:15 PM EST

After an 11-2 start to the season, Georgia Tech Baseball was ready to start conference play tonight in Atlanta against Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish are 5-4 heading into this matchup and were looking to get their own season on track with their conference opener.

Georgia Tech had a midweek matchup with Lipscomb this week and they won that game 10-5. The offense had a strong game and the pitching did just enough to close out the win.

The pitching was hoping to have a better weekend than it did against Georgia last weekend. While the Georgia Tech pitchers had a great performance in the final game, they struggled in the first two and it resulted in the first two losses of the season for Tech.

Dawson Brown was back on the mound for the Yellow Jackets tonight and Kristian Campbell was back in the lineup as the DH. Here is how they lined up:

1. CF-Jake DeLeo

2. IF- Angelo Dispigna

3. RF- Stephen Reid

4. C- Jack Rubenstein

5. 3B- Drew Compton

6. 1B- Jackson Finley

7. 2B- Nicholas Romano

8. DH- Kristian Campbell

9. SS- Nico Senese

It was a solid start for Brown on the mound. He got two strikeouts in a scoreless first inning and after Georgia Tech left a runner stranded on third in the first, Brown came back and got through the second inning quickly and it was looking like a great outing was on deck for the Yellow Jackets pitcher.

A Romano double gave GT another runner in scoring position, but the offense failed to bring him in and we went to the third still scoreless.

After Brown got through the third with no trouble, the Yellow Jackets' offense woke up and put the game's first runs on the board.

Georgia Tech Baseball — Georgia Tech is now 1-0 in ACC play
Georgia Tech Athletics

DeLeo got a single to start things off and an error allowed him to advance to third. Dispigna drove him in with an RBI single to give GT a 1-0 lead. Dispigna would advance to second on a wild pitch after a Reid fly out and Rubenstein would have an RBI double to give the Yellow Jackets a 2-0 lead.

After a scoreless fourth inning for both teams, the Fighting Irish got hot on offense. After a single and walk, Notre Dame scored to make it 2-1 courtesy of an RBI single, but then Brown got his second out and just needed one more to end the inning. However, he gave up two straight RBI singles to give Notre Dame the lead 3-2 and that was it for Brown. Ben King came to replace him and immediately gave up an RBI single to make the lead 4-2 in favor of Notre Dame. A strikeout would end the inning, but Georgia Tech trailed by two runs. Brown gave up six hits and four earned runs in 4.2 IP.

DeLeo got a leadoff single at the bottom of the fifth, but three straight batters were sent down after that. King came back for the 6th and after a leadoff single, worked through the Notre Dame lineup to get the Yellow Jackets back to the plate.

A leadoff double from Compton set up a chance for Georgia Tech to close the lead and they did. Finley drove in Compton with an RBI double and GT was in a good position in the 6th. After two quick outs and having a runner on first, Senese walked and DeLeo was hit by pitch, the Yellow Jackets had the bases loaded with two outs. Dispigna could not drive any runs in though and the game went to the 7th inning.

Tech went to the top of the 7th trailing by one. King got one quick out, but a walk and a single put two runners on, and his night was over. Joseph Mannelly came in and despite loading the bases, a great play from Compton at third base got the Yellow Jackets out of it.

Reid struck out to start the inning, but that did not show what was coming this inning. Rubenstein then blasted a solo home run to tie the game and that put the Yellow Jackets' offense in a good position. Compton hit his second double of the game to give GT a runner-in-scoring position. Finley struck out to make it two outs and then Compton got to third on a wild pitch.

Notre Dame made an interesting decision to intentionally walk Romano, but they hit Campbell with a pitch on the next at-bat to load the bases. A balk scored Compton and Georgia Tech then had the lead 5-4. An RBI single from Senese gave the Yellow Jackets another run and then Campbell scored on a wild pitch before the inning ended. It was a four-run inning for Georgia Tech and that would be the difference.

Terry Busse came in and did what Terry Busse does. He pitched two scoreless innings and got the save, as well as four strikeouts.

The pitching settled in after a tough inning from Brown in the 5th and the bullpen has shown to be really good so far this season.

The win moves Georgia Tech to 12-2 this season and 1-0 in the ACC.

Georgia Tech and Notre Dame will play a double-header tomorrow starting at 2:00 p.m.

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