UGA Baseball Falls to #3 Yellow Jackets

ATLANTA---A bases-loaded walk to Georgia Tech sophomore Jacob Esch in the bottom of the eighth broke a 5-5 tie as the third-ranked Yellow Jackets edged Georgia 6-5 Tuesday at Russ Chandler Stadium.

Powered by a couple of home runs in the first, Georgia Tech (14-1) built a 3-0 lead over the Bulldogs (8-9). Junior centerfielder Jeff Rowland drove a 2-0 offering over the right field wall for a lead off home run off freshman Blake Dieterich. After a four-pitch walk to Jacob Esch, senior first baseman Tony Plagman connected for his seventh home run of the year. Dieterich settled down and retired the next three Yellow Jackets to end the first.

After striking out the side in the first, Georgia Tech sophomore right-hander Mark Pope pitched out of trouble in the second. Freshman Robert Shipman led off with a base hit and sophomore catcher Christian Glisson drew a walk. For Shipman, it extended his hitting streak to six games. Pope battled back to strike out third baseman Colby May on three pitches, got designated hitter Zach Taylor to fly out and second baseman Todd Hankins to ground out.

After striking out Chase Burnette to start the bottom of the second, Dieterich got ahead of senior Jay Dantzler 0-2 but the Yellow Jacket left fielder smashed his next pitch over the wall in right for his third home run of the year and a 4-0 advantage. Georgia turned to senior Steve Esmonde to start the bottom of the fourth. Dieterich provided three innings, allowing four runs on five hits with two walks and four strikeouts in his first career start.

Pope cruised through the first five frames, facing just two over the minimum before the Bulldogs spoiled his shutout bid in the sixth. Sophomore shortstop Levi Hyams led off with a bunt single and came around to score on an RBI-triple by sophomore centerfielder Zach Cone (2-for-5,3 RBI), his team-leading third of the year. Then after getting Johnathan Taylor to bounce out, right fielder Peter Verdin lined a single to center bringing Cone home to make it 4-2. Pope registered his eighth strikeout on the night by getting Shipman and then catcher Glisson smacked a single as Verdin advanced to third. Pope ended the rally by striking out May.

Georgia chased Pope in the seventh and took its first lead of the night at 5-4, scoring three runs on three hits. With two on and one out, Cone tied a school record with his second triple of the night, a two-run, game-tying drive to the gap in left center. Cone became the sixth Bulldog in school history to do it, and the first since Pete Arenas against Evansville in 1996. Pope was lifted for Jake Davies who retired Taylor and Tech brought in Patrick Long. Verdin gave Georgia a 5-4 advantage with a run-scoring double on Long’s first and only pitch of the night. Then, Tech brought in left-hander Zach Brewster to face Shipman. He walked him and then struck out Glisson to keep it 5-4.

Meanwhile, Georgia’s bullpen quieted the Tech offense through the middle frames. Esmonde pitched a scoreless fourth inning and senior Justin Earls retired seven straight Yellow Jackets before Rowland and Esch reached on back-to-back base hits. After getting Plagman to pop out, Georgia looked to freshman Cooper Moseley to get the final out of the seventh. Catcher Cole Leonia knocked a 1-2 pitch up the middle to drive in Rowland and tie the game at 5-all. Moseley battled back to retire Matt Skole on a deep fly ball to center that Cone tracked down at the warning track.

In the bottom of the eighth, Georgia gave the ball to senior Alex McRee. He hit Dieterich, walked Chase Burnette on four pitches and Dantzler on five pitches to load the bases for pinch-hitter Jason Garofalo. McRee struck him out on a 2-2 pitch to send it to the top of the order in Rowland. Then, he struck out Rowland on four pitches to bring up Esch. However, Tech took a 6-5 lead as Esch drew a walk on four pitches, scoring Dieterich. McRee bounced back to strike out Plagman to keep it a one-run affair. McRee got the loss to fall to 0-1 while Robinson picked up the win in relief to improve to 2-0 after pitching the final two frames with three strikeouts.

“We hung in there, and I’m proud of them, we just have to get a few more tough outs,” said Georgia coach David Perno. “We’re getting closer but we’re not there yet. I thought Zach Cone had a nice game, Justin Earls pitched outstanding for us and Alex just wasn’t as sharp as he needed to be, but we’ll get that cleaned up.

“We were one pitch away a couple of times, they tie it up on a 1-2 count in the seventh and then we had three walks including giving them the winning run there in the eighth,” Perno added.