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Georgia Tech Holds Off Miami (OH) in Season Opener, 15-12

Tech gets the season opener win against Miami (OH), stopping a comeback at 15-12.

Rohan Raman

Coming into the season, there were definitely questions about how this baseball team was going to look. With the amount of starting, MLB-caliber talent that the program needed to replace, it wouldn't have been entirely surprising for them to struggle out of the gate. 

They looked completely in control on a windy afternoon on the Flats for five innings. Pitching, bats, defense - everything ran like a well-oiled machine for the Jackets as they built a thirteen-run lead by the second inning and maintained a double-digit distance until the fifth inning. Unfortunately, a huge Redhawks grand slam closed that lead to four. Miami (OH) kept driving, hitting a leadoff homer and keeping a struggling Jackets pitching rotation on their toes. It came down to the last pitch of the ninth inning, where a Terry Busse save ended the furious Redhawks comeback at 15-12. 

1st Inning

A closer in 2022, Dawson Brown got the starting nod to open up 2023 for the Jackets. Even though Zach MacDonald and Benji Brokemond advanced to second and third, Brown stayed cool and threw three consecutive strikeouts to keep the Redhawks off the board. 

Batting leadoff for GT, Kristian Campbell set a lot of firsts for the Jackets. In the first plate appearance of 2023, he got the first hit of the season and later made it home on a wild pitch to get the first run. The ball continued to get away from Redhawks starter Tyler Chadwick, who had two more wild pitches that resulted in GT runs. Nicholas Romano hit a 2 RBI single to extend the lead to 5-0, putting pressure on Chadwick. Chadwick walking Campbell prompted Luke Ross to come in for the Redhawks, but it didn't make a difference. 

Drew Compton cleared a huge triple - and the bases - on the 1-1 count. 

Compton added a run of his own to make it 9-0, but a Jake DeLeo groundout ended an immaculate first inning of baseball for GT. 

2nd Inning

Brown let up his first few walks of the season, but he made up for it with a strikeout of Redhawks outfielder Nate Stone. The Jackets' bats stayed hot after catcher Jack Rubenstein hit an RBI single to send John Giesler home. Romano kept it going with a double and Rubenstein scored to make it 11-0 for GT. For the second time in the afternoon, Drew Compton ate the Redhawks' pitching for a triple, adding another run and scoring himself with help from an RBI single courtesy of Stephen Reid. 13-0 Jackets at the conclusion of the second. 

3rd Inning

Brown opened up the inning by letting up a double and then a two-run homer. After Miami got on the board with 3 runs, Luke Schmolke entered the game in relief of Brown. Unfortunately, Schmolke walked two batters with the bases loaded to make it 13-5. The pitching didn't look quite as sharp in this one, which was an omen of things to come.

Fortunately, the Jacket's offense didn't let up whatsoever. Another Jackets triple, this time courtesy of Giesler, continued the offensive fireworks on the Flats. Rubenstein hit an RBI groundout to bring the lead to 15-5. At this point, it seemed like an easy cruise for the Jackets to get the season opener win. 

4th Inning

In an uneventful inning for both teams, this inning paled in comparison to the previous three Jackets innings. At the top, Schmolke didn't record any strikeouts, but the GT defense got three outs to put Noah Senese on the plate. He quickly struck out while Compton couldn't keep his triple streak going, hitting a fly ball for the second out. A single from Reid and a passed ball got him to second, but a walk and DeLeo flyout ended the inning. The Jacket's offense was never going to keep up its scoring rate, but it would have been nice to have gone a little deeper through the batting rotation. 

5th Inning

Schmolke enjoyed good run support yet again in this one, getting two easy flyouts. That being said, he retired Brokemond to punctuate three straight Redhawks outs. 

However, the GT offense really started to stagnate. Two straight pop flys and a Jaden Jackson ground-out marked two straight uneventful offensive innings for the Jackets. In retrospect, if they'd been able to capture a run in this one, it would have given them even more breathing room and wrapped the game up nicely. 

6th Inning

Poetically, the sixth inning of the game resulted in six runs from Miami (OH) in an extremely lacking pitching performance for GT. A huge 2-run homer from Ryland Zaborowski ended the Jackets' double-digit lead, which opened up the floodgates. Batters started moving around the basepaths at will, culminating in a massive grand slam courtesy of Redhawks first baseman Stephen Krause. Noah Samol, who came in for Schmolke, really struggled in this inning and Hall eventually made the switch to Aeden Finateri. Finateri got the clinching strikeout shortly thereafter, but the damage was already done -  the momentum rested firmly with the Redhawks. 

It didn't help that the GT bats were cold for the third straight inning, despite the best efforts of Reid. He had a huge triple to right center, but a flyout immediately after ruined a prime scoring opportunity. The inning ended 15-11, Jackets. 

This was certainly a disastrous inning in both phases of the game, but these are the types of things that can happen with such a young team.

7th Inning 

Even though Zaborowski hit a leadoff homer, the top of the inning was largely mistake-free for GT. Finateri forced a quick K to set up two consecutive groundouts. On the offensive end, DeLeo was able to reach third but a popup fly by Jackson kept him from extending the lead. Redhawks pitcher Mike Sosna did a good job of keeping Romano from having yet another huge hit. 

8th Inning 

Finateri giving up a single in this one largely didn't matter because the run support was excellent. Three groundouts are a testament to the Tech defense communicating and moving well - it's nice to see that they were able to perform in such a big spot very early in the season. Eliminating mental mistakes will be crucial if they want to support a developing pitching staff. 

Unfortunately, the Jackets had yet another scoreless inning with three quick outs. Drew Compton continued to make contact, but unfortunately hit a fly ball rather than another game-breaking triple. 

9th Inning 

The Terry Busse ninth-inning masterclass in such a crucial moment is undoubtedly the story of the game. Yes, the pitchers struggled in this one, but it takes a lot to perform in a big moment like this - and Busse was undoubtedly up to the task. 

He caught MacDonald and Zaborowski - the two responsible for the six-run shelling in the sixth - looking. Even when Parker Lester hit a double, Busse remained calm and retired Eli Applewick to clinch the season opener win for GT.

Overall Thoughts

While not a perfect performance, fans should come away from the game optimistic. The pitching was always going to take time to coalesce and they locked it down in the clutch. A dreadful inning shouldn't spoil the entirety of what this team was able to do tonight. Drew Compton came out swinging in this one, which was fantastic to see. His role as a tenured starter at 3B is invaluable to the squad. 

Tomorrow, the Jackets will face off with the Redhawks yet again in Atlanta at 2 pm. 

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Rohan Raman
ROHAN RAMAN

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