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Georgia Tech Gets the Sweep Against Miami (OH), Winning 16-8

This dominant performance capped a good first series for the Jackets.

Rohan Raman

Back at MacNease for the final game of their series against the Miami (OH) Redhawks, the Jackets already clinched the series as a result of their 5-4 win yesterday. However, going for a series sweep today was absolutely essential. It can set a foundation for the confidence of the team and with such a young group, that's incredibly important for the season. 

Starting Lineup 

Jackson Finley got the start on the mound for the Jackets today and had a fine first appearance in the top of the 1st. Both Benji Brokemond and Zach MacDonald made contact but grounded out. Frustratingly, the defense made a bad play on the ball after Ryland Zaborowski of the Redhawks slammed one to third base that got past them. Fortunately, they were able to force Zaborowski out at second on a routine play from Jackets 2B Nicholas Romano to shortstop Jadyn Jackson.

It was nice to see the Jackets' bats get going early. On the very first pitch from Connor Oliver, Jake DeLeo was hit and then got to third due to two stray pitches from Oliver. While Compton and Reid both got out, John Geisler, who has been hitting well throughout the series, sent a double straight to center field that was dropped on a tough catch attempt. He sent DeLeo home for the first run of the game.

Despite a nice double from Georgia native Parker Lester, the Miami (OH) batting order couldn't do much. Finley quickly retired Evan Applewick, who gave yesterday's starter Logan McGuire some issues, but the pitch got away from him against Dillon Baker. Lester made it to third, but luckily, Baker popped up straight to John Giesler's glove and Drew Novak grounded out to leave Lester stranded at third - and the Redhawks scoreless. 

In both of their last two games, the Jackets have been good for an especially hot offensive inning. Today, it happened to be the second, where Angelo Dispigna got the crowd going with an easy single. Even though Finley - who plays both outfield and pitcher for GT - struck out, Dispigna stole a base and eventually scored on a Nick Romano center-field single. Both Finley and Romano were able to work into the pitch count for Oliver, which seemed to be a sign of things to come. Jackson singled to set up a big DeLeo left-field rocket that sent three runners home and built a 5-0 GT lead. 

DeLeo has started the year strong for the Jackets and hopefully, he can keep this up for the entire season. Credit to Oliver for then getting Compton and Reid out, but it's hard to beat the Jackets when the bats are humming up and down the order. 

Finley followed up a nice plate appearance with another solid outing, dispatching MacDonald on three quick strikes while getting good run support for his other two outs.

The bottom of the third was a missed opportunity for GT. Oliver continued to struggle with his placement and hit both Giesler and Jack Rubenstein. Dispigna then forced the walk to set up a bases-loaded situation. However, the next three GT bats all struck out, leaving the runners stranded and a chance to go up 9-0 wasted. 

Brian Zapp got a measure of revenge against Finley in his second at-bat, homering down center field to get the Redhawks on the board. However, the GT defense was able to limit the rest of the batting order. 

A critique of the Jackets yesterday was that the bats frequently dried up outside of one big inning. Even if they didn't score in both the third and fourth, that critique didn't apply today. DeLeo hit a double, Compton forced a walk and they put runners at the corners before Rubenstein struck out. Making consistent contact is the hallmark of a stable offense - it's simply not sustainable for the Jackets to be totally reliant on a single inning for offensive production.

Partially recovering from giving up a homer in his last appearance, Finley only saw three batters before shutting down the top of the 5th. He did hit Drew Novak, who took advantage of a wild pitch and flyout to get to third. However, once again, he got the clinching strikeout. 

In 2022, DeLeo battled injuries all year long but really came alive in May of last year and in the ACC Tournament. If what he's shown so far is any indication, 2023 is going to be a continuation of his end-of-season run. For his second homer of the afternoon, DeLeo blasted one down the line for a 2 RBI stunner that put the Jackets up by eight. 

Based on these numbers, it might be a good idea for the Redhawks to start giving DeLeo the Barry Bonds treatment.

Dispigna also made it home earlier in the order on a double of his own and a helpful flyout by Jackson. It might be a little premature, but the Jackets' high-powered offense doesn't look like it's going anywhere. 

Even though Finley's day was over on the mound, Josiah Siegel picked right back up with a hitless outing of his own. He retired MacDonald, surrendered a double to Stephen Krause, and redeemed himself with a simply ruthless strikeout of Lester.  

Another day, another big hit for Stephen Reid. Even though he'd been mostly quiet in this game, Reid hit a nice centerfield homer to keep the Jackets up, 9-1. He's been good throughout the series and is going to be a big part of the 2023 Jackets offense, so it was nice to see him break through yet again. 

Siegel wasn't quite as clean in his second frame, as he gave up a homer to Dillon Baker and an easy single to Drew Novak. However, the Jacket's defense was able to limit the damage with an awesome double play to get both Carlos Tejada and Novak out and set up Jadyn Jackson in the bottom of the seventh. Jackson forced the walk to bring DeLeo up to bat. This time, Redhawks pitcher Carson Byers got DeLeo on the 1-2-3. Fortunately, Compton broke through for the center-field double and sent Jackson third. Freshman baserunner Brant Baughcum came in to pinch-run for Compton, 

Following a Stephen Reid pop-out, Giesler came up for his second big moment of the game, singling to left field and driving two runs in. 

Even though it wasn't of much consequence, Siegel had his struggles in this one. Both Brokemond and Krause hit a double off of him, which resulted in another Miami (OH) run before he closed the frame out. Fortunately, the GT offense continued to get contact and force Redhawks pitchers into deep counts. Despite Jackets coach Danny Hall making the decision to substitute pinch hitters, Riley Stanford, Tyler Hare, Carson Sabathia, Parker Brosius and Baughcum all scored to add five runs to an already large GT lead. It was cool to see Nathan Smith blast a 2-RBI single in his first career plate appearance for GT. 

Both Carson Byers and Connor Preisel, who came in to relieve him, really struggled with control and this put the game even further out of reach for the Redhawks. By the end of the 8th, the Jackets held a comfortable 16-3 lead. 

Due to the lead, the starting defense sat as the backups came in to support Siegel. Unfortunately, the Miami (OH) batting really started to eat away at his pitches as four consecutive batters recorded a hit. Three consecutive doubles from Baker, Drew Novak, and Carlos Tejada gave the Redhawks four runs before Siegel was replaced by Jackie Vaughan. He immediately gave up a homer to Zach Macdonald that sent Tejada home and broke a double-digit lead to 8 runs. Fortunately, the young defense held firm and clinched the game on a double play to sweep the Redhawks. 

Overall, this was a good first series for the Jackets. Yes, the pitching was up and down throughout the weekend, but that's to be expected from a team that already had unproven arms in its rotation and bullpen. It was encouraging to see that the Jackets were able to put up points and the defense looked mostly solid in all three games outside of a few mental lapses. 

DeLeo, Reid, Compton, and Dispigna all had really nice hitting performances throughout the series while McGuire looked absolutely dominant in his start on Saturday. 

There are a lot of positives for the Jackets to take into their 6:00 pm Tuesday game at Georgia Southern. 

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Rohan Raman
ROHAN RAMAN

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