DURHAM, N.C. – Georgia Tech baseball (38-15, 18-10 ACC) escaped a runners-at-the-corners nobody out jam in the bottom of the ninth to collect its ninth win in the last 10 games, 7-6, over No. 20 Duke (35-17, 16-12 ACC) on Thursday night at Jack Coombs Field. Drew Burress went 4-for-4 and Kent Schmidt delivered a three-run double in the Yellow Jackets’ five-run seventh inning before Mason Patel slammed the door in the ninth to give GT its 12th road win of the season, the most since 2000.
Sophomore Tate McKee was forced to battle, working to find the strike zone but hanging on for 5.0 innings, keeping the Jackets in the game (2-4) before a five-run seventh inning put Tech in front, 7-4. Duke would manage to close the gap to just one run headed into the ninth, when Patel leaned on the defense for three outs, giving Tech its second straight one-run victory and third straight win over a ranked opponent. There was a moment when it appeared Duke had tied the score in the ninth, when a would-be SAC bunt brought a runner across only for the ball to trickle foul down the first-base line before the batter flew out in foul territory.
QUICK HITS: THE TEAM
- Tech is now 38-15, tied for the best record in 15 years (tied with 2019 for best since 2010).
- This was the Yellow Jackets’ 12th road win of the season (12-5), the most in 25 years (since 2000 (14-7)).
- GT has won 18 ACC games for the first time since 2021 and picked up its ninth ACC road win, the most since 2021 (11).
- The Jackets are now 7-4 in one-run games this season and 3-0 in such games in the month of May.
- Tech has won three straight games against ranked opponents (two vs. No. 20 Louisville and one vs. No. 20 Duke) for the first time this season. GT won three straight over ranked teams twice last season and have not won four on a row since winning six straight in 2016.
- Tech connected for two doubles today, off the bats of Burress and Schmidt, bringing the season total to 135, the 3rd most in Division I.
- Georgia Tech is averaging 2.55 doubles per game this season (135 in 53 games) – the program record for doubles/game is 2.51, set in 1987.
- With today’s results, Georgia Tech, once again, leads the ACC in conference wins, with 18. The Jackets are 2nd in the standings, trailing NC State (17-9) on win percentage. The Jackets need to win the next two games, have NC State lose once and have Florida State (16-9) lose one more time to win the regular season ACC title.
- The Jackets are one win away from clinching the…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Baseball – Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets…