Virginia Tech Baseball Rallies Late to Defeat No. 5 Georgia Tech 9-6

Virginia Tech erased multiple deficits and used a three-run sixth and seventh inning to defeat No. 5 Georgia Tech 9-6 on Sunday in Atlanta, surviving a back-and-forth game and a two-hour rain delay.

The Hokies (8-7, 1-2 ACC) struck first in the opening inning against Georgia Tech (14-2, 2-1 ACC) starter Cooper Underwood. A pitch hit center fielder Treyson Hughes, left fielder Nick Locurto walked and second baseman Ethan Ball bunted back to Underwood for an infield single.

Right fielder Sam Grube and designated hitter Hudson Lutterman combined for the first two runs of the game, both hitting sacrifice flies to left field to put the Hokies up early 2-0.

Georgia Tech answered in the second inning. Designated hitter Kent Schmidt drew a leadoff walk before third baseman Ryan Zuckerman launched a two-run homer to right field to tie the game. The Yellow Jackets later threanted with runners on the corners, but Hokies starter Griffin Steig escaped the inning without further damage.

The Yellow Jackets took their first lead in the third. After loading the bases, shortstop Carson Kerce drew a walk that forced in a run, putting Georgia Tech ahead 3-2.

Virginia Tech responded in the fourth. Shortstop Pete Daniel reached base and eventually scored when Locurto found a hole on the right side of the infield, tying the game at 3-3. Georgia Tech quickly regained the lead in the bottom half when catcher Vahn Lackey blasted a solo home run off the scoreboard in left field.

Georgia Tech added two more runs in the fifth to extend the lead to 6-3. Center fielder Drew Burress dropped an RBI single in front of Locurto in left field before first baseman Alex Hernandez followed with a run-scoring single to center.

The Hokies answered in a big way in the sixth inning. After Daniel was thrown out at third after trying to tag up on a Hughes fly out to left, Locurto kept the inning alive with a single to center.

Then stepped in the young star Ball. He ripped a two-run double down the left field line to cut the deficit to one. Moments later, Lutterman delivered an RBI single to center to tie the game at 6-6.

Virginia Tech regained the lead in the seventh. Third baseman Owen Petrich doubled to start the inning and Daniel followed with a walk before Gates loaded the bases with another free pass. The lineup turned over for Hughes, who grounded out to shortstop, but it was hit deep enough that Petrich scored easily from third base to give the Hokies the lead.

The runs kept coming in the seventh for the Hokies as Grube lined a two-run double down the right-field line to extend the advantage to 9-6.

After a two-hour rain delay before the bottom of the seventh, Virginia Tech's bullpen took control. Reliever Preston Crowl struck out two in a clean inning after the delay, then worked around a baserunner in the eighth with the help of a double play.

Crowl came out for the ninth and closed the door on the Yellow Jackets. Zuckerman struck out looking to start the inning before right fielder Will Baker grounded out to short. Catcher Drew Rogers was the last hope for Georgia Tech, but he struck out on a dropped third strike, which is easily thrown over to first to end the game.

Virginia Tech will now travel to Charlottesville, Va., to take on rival Virginia. The game is on March 13 and will start at 4:00 p.m. ET. Coverage for the game will be on the ACC Network Extra.