Georgia Tech shuts out Boston College
Brandon Gold and Matthew Gorst combined on a nine-hit shutout, and Trevor Craport, Matt Gonzalez and Tristin English hit home runs to lead ninth-seeded Georgia Tech to a 6-0 victory over eighth-seeded Boston College on Tuesday in the play-in round of the ACC baseball tournament.
No. 9 seed Georgia Tech (36-20, 14-16 ACC) enters Pool A and will play No. 1 seed Miami at 3 p.m. Wednesday at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
Craport and Gonzalez hit solo shots in the fifth and the ninth over the Blue Monster in left field. English’s two-run blast landed on the Tobacco Road roof behind the left field picnic area two batters after Gonzalez. Both ninth-inning homers came off John Nicklas, the third of four BC pitchers.
The No. 8 seed Eagles (31-20, 13-16) and Yellow Jackets were meeting for the fourth time in the last six days. They played a three-game series last weekend, with BC sweeping a Saturday doubleheader to get into the ACC tournament for only the third time since joining the league in 2006 and the first time since 2010.
BC was the only team that didn’t use its No. 1 starter Tuesday. Eagles coach Mike Gambino bypassed staff ace Mike King for senior reliever Jesse Adams, who got his fifth save in the Georgia Tech series finale. The Yellow Jackets countered with Gold (8-3), who beat King and the Eagles last Thursday 6-3.
Georgia Tech took a 1-0 lead in the third off Adams (5-5) when Connor Justus doubled to right and came home on Wade Bailey’s single up the middle. English singled off King, who relieved in the fifth, and scored on a double by Brandt Stallings to make it 3-0 in the sixth.
Gold pitched out of two jams, stranding runners at the corners in the third and the bases loaded in the fifth. He yielded seven hits, struck out five, walked one and hit a batter in 6 2/3 innings before Gorst took over in the seventh. Gorst walked Jake Palomaki to load the bases but retired Michael Strem on a fly to center en route to his 12th save.
This story was originally published May 24, 2016 at 6:40 PM with the headline "Georgia Tech shuts out Boston College."