Georgia Tech Pitching Dominates In 11-1 Game One Win Over Pitt

Tech's pitching staff held Pitt to three hits for the game

Jackson Caudell | May 5, 2023

It was a crucial moment of the season for Georgia Tech Baseball. In the major projections, they are not currently in line for an NCAA Tournament birth and most importantly, they didn't qualify for the ACC Tournament coming into today.

Pitt was right above Georgia Tech in the ACC Standings and at minimum, the Yellow Jackets need to win two of three games in this series and a sweep would do wonders for their chances to make the conference tournament.

Tonight, Luke Schmolke took the mound for the Yellow Jackets in hopes of getting a win, and here is how Georgia Tech lined up:

1. 2B- Kristian Campbell

2. CF- Jake DeLeo

3. RF- Stephen Reid

4. IF- Angelo Dispigna

5. 1B- John Giesler

6. 3B- Drew Compton

7. DH- Jackson Finley

8. C- Jack Rubenstein

9. SS- Jadyn Jackson

Kristian Campbell hit — Georgia Tech needed a win against Pitt tonight / GT Baseball

It was an eventful first inning for both teams.

Schmolke gave up a leadoff home run to start the game and give the Panthers a 1-0 lead and then loaded the bases with three straight walks and no outs. He managed to find a way to get out of the inning only down 1-0.

It did not take long for the Yellow Jackets to strike back though. After a leadoff walk from Campbell and a flyout from DeLeo, Reid singled and then Campbell got to third on a wild pitch. Dispigna had a sac fly to get the game tied up 1-1 and then Giesler doubled to put runners on second and third. Compton would walk and then a run scored to make it 2-1.

It was a bounce-back second inning for Schmolke. After a leadoff single, he struck out two of the final three batters to get to the bottom of the 2nd.

It was a 1-2-3 bottom of the second for the Yellow Jackets.

After another quick inning for Schmolke on the mound, the GT offense went back to work. Reid had a leadoff double and then an RBI from Dispigna gave the Yellow Jackets a 3-1 lead. After Dispigna advanced to third, a sac fly from Compton made it 4-1.

Nine for his last 10 AB's 😲@AngeloDispigna | #WreckHavoc pic.twitter.com/oPygobVJEw
— Georgia Tech Baseball (@GTBaseball) May 5, 2023

Schmolke delivered another great inning at the top of the 4th and after a shaky start, he settled in nicely through the first four innings.

7️⃣ straight retired for @LukeSchmolke! Now 12 of his last 14 retired through four innings pic.twitter.com/ZyubCJmdNk
— Georgia Tech Baseball (@GTBaseball) May 5, 2023

In the bottom of the inning, GT broke the game open. A one-out single from Jackson and then an error put Campbell on and GT had two runners on base. DeLeo got on a fielder's choice, but Campbell was out at second. With two runners on and two outs, Reid came up and blasted a three-run home run to put the Yellow Jackets ahead 7-1.

STEPHEN REID 🚀@stephennreid | #WreckHavoc pic.twitter.com/7zdSCkrw8n
— Georgia Tech Baseball (@GTBaseball) May 5, 2023

Schmolke pitched one more scoreless inning in the 5th to finish his day. He gave up only two hits and struck out five, but the six walked batters is still concerning going forward.

Ben King came in to replace Schmolke in the 6th and he was fantastic. He struck out two in the top of the 6th. GT added four runs at the bottom of the inning and as unreliable as the pitching has been this season, an 11-1 lead felt safe tonight for the Yellow Jackets.

King finished with two innings pitched and only allowed one hit and striking out four batters. He has been one of the only consistent pitchers for GT this season and he was great tonight.

Dalton Smith came in the 8th and pitched a scoreless inning and 9th inning.

Georgia Tech outhit Pitt 14-3 for the night.

This was a game that Georgia Tech had to have and they played like it. They need to continue this through the weekend.

Game two is set for tomorrow at 6:00 p.m.

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