Alex Hernandez 4-4 night
MAC NEASE BASEBALL PARK — The Cal Bears came to town to finish up the California stretch of #18 Georgia Tech Baseball’s ACC schedule, Tech winning game one of the matchup 3-0 behind an excellent Tate McKee start with six strikeouts, only three hits allowed and two earned runs.
“I thought he did a great job, he was pretty much in command,” said Georgia Tech Head Coach Danny Hall.
McKee cruised through his first five innings, reaching the 6th at under 70 pitches. Two walks and two singles in the 6th inflated his pitch count enough that his night was done after 5.2 innings and two runs allowed.
Vahn Lackey took the leadoff spot for the first time while usual leadoff man, Kyle Lodise, is out battling injury (Danny Hall said he is day-to-day at this point).
“I used to hit lead off in high school, so I was like, ‘finally, I’m back!’” said Lackey.
While McKee was mowing down batters, Tech got their initial lead on a Will Baker three-run homer in the second inning, then another three-run bomb via Alex Hernandez in the 5th inning. Hernandez’s homer was nearly a two-run homer as the ball was so close to the wall in right field that Drew Burress at first base had to stay near the base in case it was caught, resulting in Hernandez nearly passing Burress on the base paths after rounding first base. The umpires did review it, but said the runners did not cross, allowing all three runs to stand for Tech, giving Tech a 6-0 lead.
“It was an interesting play, because I knew I didn’t get all of it, but I thought I got enough of it with the wind blowing out. [Burress] went back because he saw Vahn tagging up, so he thought the [right fielder] caught it, so he kind of jumped back for a second and I looked up and saw him and tried to stop as good as I could. I’m not sure I stopped [soon] enough, but as far as I know the camera said I did,” said Hernandez after the game.
After McKee’s aforementioned allowed runs, Mason Patel came in, finishing the sixth inning, had a clean seventh inning, but allowed a three run homer to Max Handron to make it a 6-5 game in the eight.
Needing insurance runs, John Giesler popped a single to center field to lead off and pinch hitter Connor Shouse walked to put two on for Will Baker. Baker laid down a magnificent sacrifice bunt to move Giesler and Shouse into scoring position with one out. Parker Brosious was unable to land a squeeze bunt, eventually striking out. Lackey then nailed a hard hit double to center field, scoring Giesler and Shouse to make it 8-5, giving all the runway Patel needed as he retired the side in order in the 9th.
“Those three run homers were big,” noted head coach Danny Hall after the game. “Their starter has been really good and going deep into games in the conference. Kerce hit that double and then we got Baker up, hitting a home run in that inning. Then Hernandez had a big night going 4-for-4. His three run homer was huge,” said Hall.
Overall, on a night where runs came at clutch moments and the team is not fully healthy, getting an ideal McKee + Patel night, it’s certainly a night to be proud of as Tech tries to catch Clemson in the ACC standings and potentially climb into a hosting spot in the NCAA Tournament.