ATLANTA – Late heroics powered Georgia Tech baseball to a 6-4 victory over Georgia State on Tuesday night, extending its win streak to nine games at GSU Baseball Complex.
The Yellow Jackets (16-4) faced a 4-3 deficit in a duel that had both teams battling. Then, with one out in the ninth, Trey Yunger drew a six-pitch walk to put the tying run on base. Freshman Drew Burress then rocketed a ball to the left center wall past a diving center fielder to score Yunger from first and tie the game.
Matthew Ellis wasted no time in the next at-bat, taking the very next pitch 400 feet to right center over the outfield scoreboard to plate two and give Tech a 6-4 lead.
Tech then turned to LHP Cam Jones, who worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth with a strikeout to get his third save of the season.
Other then the bottom of the fifth when Tech allowed four runs, Tech pitched eight innings of scoreless baseball. RHP Carson Ballard worked 4.0 innings to start, surrendering four runs, but just two of them earned, against five strikeouts. After the four runs scored, RHP Ben King, RHP Dawson Brown and LHP Camron Hill locked down the Panthers (11-10). King went one inning of one-hit work, Brown went 2.0 innings of one-hit, three-strikeout work, and Hill (2-0) went an inning hitless.
After the fifth inning, the Jackets offense responded with three runs of their own in the sixth, scoring on a two-RBI single by Jones and sac bunt RBI from Parker Brosius.
Ellis led the way with a two-hit, two-RBI night. Carson Kerce also finished with two hits.
Georgia State was led by Michael Maginnis, who went 1-for-4 with a two-run homer. RHP Brian Garmon (0-2) received the loss, allowing three runs on two hits in 1.1 innings of work.
Georgia Tech continues its road swing on March 22-24 at No. 20 North Carolina. First pitch on Friday is set for 6 p.m.
