THE FLATS – Redshirt sophomore RHP Carson Ballard turned in his finest start of his young career, stymieing Mercer’s offense and powering Georgia Tech baseball to a 9-5 victory on Tuesday night at OrthoGeorgia Park.
The Yellow Jacket (12-4) right-hander pitched 7.0 scoreless innings and surrendered just four hits. Ballard (2-1) worked quickly and efficiently with his defense behind him, needing only 71 pitches for his career-long outing. Ballard retired 10 of his 21 outs on the first two pitches of the at-bat.
Offensively, Bobby Zmarzlak led the way with a 3-for-3, three-RBI night that included a solo home run in the second inning. Cam Jones also turned in a 3-for-4 night with a double before he pitched the final three outs.
Parker Brosius continued his stellar run, getting a groundout RBI in the fourth before a two-RBI double in the eighth. Tech also got RBI from Drew Burress, who crushed a sac fly, and Payton Green, who scored Matthew Ellis on a double to right center.
On the mound, runs scored against both RHP Riley Stanford and RHP Caden Gaudette before Jones closed.
The Bears (10-7) were led by Parker Lester, who went 3-for-3 with two doubles. RHP Reid Fagerstrom (1-2) received the loss, surrendering two runs on four hits with four walks in 3.1 innings of work.
Georgia Tech returns home for the start of Atlantic Coast Conference play when it hosts NC State at Mac Nease Baseball Park at Russ Chandler Stadium on March 15-17. First pitch on Friday is set for 6 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ACC Network Extra.
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Around Social Media
FINAL: @CarsonBallard02 pitches Tech past the Bears 💪#WreckHavoc x #StingEM pic.twitter.com/r4KyGjlPvo
— Georgia Tech Baseball (@GTBaseball) March 13, 2024
Bobby Zmarzlak keeps driving them in with another RBI in the ninth!
GT 9 | MER 2 pic.twitter.com/aK7wCwzku4
— Georgia Tech Baseball (@GTBaseball) March 13, 2024
Final line for @CarsonBallard02‘s gem:
7️⃣IP 4️⃣H 0️⃣R 1️⃣BB 2️⃣K pic.twitter.com/vL6OhlvFUP
— Georgia Tech Baseball (@GTBaseball) March 13, 2024
T8 | An error scores a run and @drew_burress08 adds another run on a sac fly!
GT 8 | MER 0 pic.twitter.com/YJK11Usjvw
— Georgia Tech Baseball (@GTBaseball) March 13, 2024
STAY HOT PARKER!! He laces a double to the wall to score two!@BrosiusParker | #WreckHavoc pic.twitter.com/SkkPpiSYkI
— Georgia Tech Baseball (@GTBaseball)
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