Box Score (PDF)
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – Georgia Tech simply refused to lose on Thursday.
Andrew Jenkins’ two-out double to-left center and an ensuing Louisville fielding error led to two runs in the bottom of the 12th inning, lifting the second-seeded Yellow Jackets past the stunned seventh-seeded Cardinals for a 9-8 win in Thursday’s ACC Baseball Championship marathon at Truist Field.
Georgia Tech (29-22) earned a spot in Saturday’s 5 p.m. semifinal game. The Yellow Jackets will represent Pool B and face the winner of Thursday night’s late Pool C game between third-seeded NC State (28-15) and No. 10 seed Pitt (23-19).
Louisville (28-22) carried a three-run lead into the bottom of eighth, and solo home runs by Alex Binelas (in the top of the 11th) and Ben Metzinger (in the top of the 12th) put the Cardinals up by a run twice in extra innings. But Georgia Tech answered on each occasion.
Seven of the Yellow Jackets' last 11 games have now been decided by one run, with Georgia Tech winning five of them.
Metzinger, who hit three runs during the tournament after hitting none during the regular season, put the Cardinals up 8-7 in the top of the 12th. But Georgia Tech’s Trey Gonzalez singled with out in the bottom of the inning, and Justyn-Henry Malloy worked Louisville reliever Luke Smith for a two-out walk that set the stage to Jenkins.
Jenkins’ lined a hard-hit shot to left-center that easily scored Gonzalez, and Malloy also raced home when the ball got past centerfielder Luke Brown to give Georgia Tech the win.
Binelas’ home run – his fourth of the tournament and 19th the year – had earlier put the Cardinals up 7-6 . But Georgia Tech tied things up in the bottom of the 11th on Drew Compton’s one-out RBI double, forcing the teams to play on in a game that took five hours and seven minutes to complete to complete.
The extra-inning drama almost made a footnote of a dramatic Georgia Tech rally in the game’s earlier stages. Louisville took a 6-3 lead into the bottom of the eight, but a fielding error and a one-out walk to Gonzalez left the door open for freshman Kevin Parada. The Yellow Jacket catcher sent the third pitch he saw from reliever Adam Elliott over the wall in left for a three-run homer that tied the game at 6-6.
The Cardinals attempted to regain the lead on a squeeze play in the top of the ninth inning after Cooper Bowman led off with a walk, stole second and reached third Trey Leonard’s sacrifice bunt. But Levi Usher missed on his attempt to get a suicide squeeze bunt down, and Parada was waiting on Bowman as he reached the plate.
The ball came out of Parada’s grasp as he made the tag, but the out call stood after a lengthy video review.
Louisville bowed out of the tournament despite hitting 11 home runs in two games, including a two-run shot by Lucas Dunn in the first inning and a solo shot by Henry Davis that helped stake the Cardinals to an 4-0 lead through 2 ½ innings on Thursday.
Jenkins delivered a two-run homer in the bottom of the third to keep Georgia Tech in it, and the Yellow Jackets eventually found a way.