Tech bats bounce back in big way for series-opening win vs. Wildcats

Georgia Tech’s offense was held relatively in check in a 9-4 Tuesday loss to Georgia State so it took out a little bit of frustration on Friday in a 17-3 win over Northwestern to open a three-game weekend series at Mac Nease Baseball Park at Russ Chandler Stadium.

The Jackets (9-1) racked up 14 total hits, including four homers and six doubles and had nine different players drive in at least one run for the thorough victory over the Wildcats to get back in the win column after Tuesday’s hiccup.

“Proud of the guys, just the way they, you know, played seven hard innings,” said Georgia Tech head coach James Ramsey. “I thought that, all three phases, once again…we talk about it’s complimentary baseball. I think just that we put our brand of baseball on the field today, and that’s a really good team (Northwestern), really well-coached team. We’ve just got to keep playing off that momentum and really keep tidying things up just from a mental perspective.”

After going down 2-0 to Northwestern (5-3) in the top of the first, the Jackets’ offense immediately evened things up with two runs in the bottom half and completely changed the trajectory of the game with a seven-run second. Tech proceeded to score in each of the following three innings, including a five-run fourth, to cushion the lead and eventually force the mercy rule in the seventh.

The Jackets had several offensive standouts, including Jarren Advincula with a pair of homers and four RBIs and Vahn Lackey with a 3-for-4 day that included a homer, double and four RBIs.

“It’s like any guy can step up any day,” said Advincula after his big performance. “So I think today obviously was one of my days. But, you know, we had Caleb Daniel, Vahn, Alex (Hernandez), and then obviously we have the superstar, Drew (Burress). So it’s pretty special what we have in this lineup. And like I said…today was just my day. And hopefully, you know, their days are going to come soon.”

Caleb Daniel also had a homer, double, an RBI and three runs scored while Drew Burress contributed a pair of doubles and three runs scored. Will Baker and Carson Kerce each chipped in with a double and two RBIs.

Tech’s Tate McKee (2-0) earned the win after pitching 4 1/3 innings and allowing three runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and two walks. Caden Gaudette and Porter Buursema each came in out of the bullpen and had scoreless appearances with Gaudette pitching 2/3 of an inning and allowing no runs on no hits and Buursema going two innings and allowing one hit while striking out three and walking one.

Advincula added that he thought it was a great response from the team after Tuesday’s loss to Georgia State.

“Oh, it was big,” said Advincula. “I mean we were all hungry, obviously. You could tell. And putting 17 runs is, I don’t want to say normal, but that’s like what Ramsey said, we play seven innings of Georgia Tech baseball. And that’s what we do.”

Ryan Kucherak had the best offensive day for Northwestern in the loss as he was 2-for-4 with a homer, double and all three Wildcats RBIs. Noah Ruiz added a pair of hits, and Jack Counsell had a double and two runs scored.

Sam Hliboki (1-2) took the loss for Northwestern after his start in which he only went 1 2/3 innings and allowed nine runs on seven hits with two walks and a strikeout. Four other Wildcats pitchers were used out of the bullpen with only one, James Whitaker, not allowing a run as he went 1 2/3 innings and allowed no hits while striking out one and walking three.

Scoring Recap…

Northwestern wasted no time getting on the scoreboard on Friday afternoon thanks to a two-run homer by Ryan Kucherak with no outs in the top of the first inning to take a quick 2-0 lead.

The Jackets’ bats answered right back in the bottom half of the first inning with Vahn Lackey singling up the middle to drive in a run and Will Baker following right after with a sac fly to left to even the game up at 2-2.

Tech rode that momentum into the second with Caleb Daniel smoking a solo homer to right to lead off the inning, Drew Burress following a few batters later with an RBI double, Lackey sending one down the left field line for a two-run double, Baker ripping a ball down the right field line for an RBI double and Zuckerman singling up the middle to drive in another as the score moved to 8-2 in favor of the Jackets. It was the team’s sixth six-run inning of the season to this point.

After a Northwestern pitching change, Tech was able to add one more run in the frame to push the advantage to 9-2 before the third out was finally recorded.

The Jackets added another on a solo homer by Jarren Advincula in the third to make the lead 10-2,

An RBI groundout by Kerce in the fourth followed by an RBI single from Alex Hernandez, a two-run homer by Advincula and a solo homer by Lackey made it 15-2.

Northwestern got one run back in the fifth on an RBI double by Kucherak to make it 15-3, but Tech scored two in the bottom half thanks to bases-loaded walks drawn by Parker Brosius and Advincula.

“(It’s) nine guys buying into…it’s not necessarily the same approach, but it’s they’ve got to play together,” said Ramsey of his lineup. “There’s so much talent that can get run out on the field at any given time. It can be somebody different every night with the biggest performance. I mean, proud of Jarren. I mean, he’s—you know, he came out of the gates and was hitting .400, and you sit there and go, man, he just doesn’t seem like he’s 100 percent. And to his credit, he just keeps working and keeps working. And, I mean, that’s the fun part, man, is these guys can carry (the team). These guys can hit for power, hit for average, hit with two strikes.”

Up Next…

Georgia Tech and Northwestern will be back at it on Saturday for a 2 p.m. first pitch before closing out the series at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

Injury note…

When asked after Friday’s game, Ramsey said Tech first baseman Kent Schmidt is still “day-to-day” with his injury suffered last weekend in the series vs. Stony Brook and working to get back as soon as he can.

“He’s day-to-day. I mean, realistically, you know, we probably could run him out there like I mentioned last week,” said Ramsey. “I think that it’s the only good stress about it is you’re sitting there and, you know, guys like Colman Lewis today gets a start and guys get a chance to run. These guys are working really hard. I mean, I think we had really two good practice days…Talk about the maturity of the team and what they needed to get better at. For us, it’s having a right-now urgency with a long-term focus of whether it’s pitching, hitting, whatever it is, of keeping the guys healthy and at their best.”