All Yellow Jackets

Jackets Close Out Boston College, 5-4

Tech battles with BC and pulls out the win in a close 5-4 thriller.

Rohan Raman

Even if the Eagles weren't ranked in the top-15, this matchup was always going to be a critical one for the Jackets considering it's on the road against a familiar ACC opponent. 

In their ACC play, BC has not looked overly impressive, ranking 9th and 12th in ERA and batting average respectively. The Jacket's impressive collection of bats definitely matches up well with such a middling pitching rotation, but any chance of winning comes down to their own pitchers not giving the game away. Seeing as how the Yellow Jacket's pitching is still ranked at the bottom of the ACC, it was a pretty tall order.

Starters

Luke Schmolke got the start today for the Jackets, facing off against Henry Leake (3-1, 3.09 ERA). 

A Kristian Campbell walk and Stephen Reid single in the first got Campbell in scoring position at third, which Jackson Finley was able to convert into a run on a powerful double. 

Drew Compton sent Finley and Reid home on a single of his own, putting the Jackets up 3-0 in only the first. Starts like these show just how dangerous the Tech batting order is and it's nice to see them get after it early. 

On the mound, Schmolke absolutely aced his first inning. He retired Barry Walsh on a quick, 5-pitch sequence while the defense got the next two batters out on a routine fly and ground ball, respectively. It served as a preview for things to come.

The second inning passed without anything of consequence. Leake shut out Nick Romano on an easy K and the BC defense did the rest, catching both Jadyn Jackson and Jake DeLeo. Schmolke continued to stay clean in the second, even if it wasn't as impressive as his first showing. Patrick Roche almost forced the walk on him as he gave up three straight balls, but luckily sent the ball to right field for an easy flyout. Schmolke did walk Vince Cimini and Phil Burns, but luckily the defense got a second flyout on Nick Wang and closed out the inning. 

Fortunately, the Jacket's offense looked a lot better in their next appearance. Campbell opened up the third inning with another single and Leake hit Finley. Drew Compton did the rest, sending yet another double into left field, scoring both Campbell and Finley. With a 5-0 lead, Tech sat firmly in control of the game - and Schmolke continued to keep the Eagles from cutting into the lead. Going 1-2-3 down the order, he looked extremely comfortable and came up big. 

In a repeat of the second inning, neither team did much in the fourth. Both DeLeo and Campbell were able to force walks off of Leake, but the BC defense held them in check for a clean inning. Schmolke's clean streak came to an end off of a Cameron Leary single, but the Eagles still failed to record a run. BC might have actually gotten on the scoreboard if it wasn't for a sensational catch by Nicholas Romano. 

Compton wasn't able to continue his hot streak in the fifth inning, but still made contact against Mike Nunan, who relieved Leake. Unfortunately, Compton grounded out, which set up a double play that also got Angelo Dispigna out and quickly ended a disappointing offensive inning for the Jackets. Even with the lead, it's never great to only move through three batters and the missed opportunities of this inning likely played a big role in the game being so close at the end. 

Fortunately, the Jackets turned in a great defensive inning at the bottom of the fifth. Even though Schmolke's pitches started getting hit, they all resulted in outs (with the exception of an Adonys Guzman single). Still, it was a little worrying to see the contact BC was making, which continued throughout the rest of the game. 

The sixth inning was the point at which the Jackets started letting up - and it showed. Even though Nunan's pitches continued to get hit, the defense converted the hits into pop-ups and essentially matched the Tech defense. 

At the bottom of the sixth, Ben King came in relief for Schmolke after he walked two batters. Schmolke ended the day with a pretty clean performance, but almost immediately after he left, the Jackets started looking sloppy. The pitch got away from King and runner Travis Honeyman stole third, putting runners on the corners. Even though the defense recorded a double play on the next pitch, Honeyman was able to score and make the score 5-1. 

In the seventh, the bats were cold once again. Ian Murphy came in for Mike Nunan and did a great job forcing Stephen Reid out. Even though Kristian Campbell got to second on a stolen base, both Dispigna and Finley were shut down by the BC defense in another missed inning for the Jackets. A seventh-inning run to keep their confidence up would have been really helpful in this game.

Just as the Jacket's offense went cold throughout the last two innings, the BC offense started to find its groove. The contact they were making off of King turned into runs as Cimini and Burns singled and doubled, eventually scoring to make it 5-3 - and a much tighter game.

The Jackets weren't able to respond at all in the eighth frame, as Murphy closed out a 1-2-3 clean inning with a brutal strikeout of Romano. The late-game offense for GT continues to look inconsistent to lacking - it's something that needs to improve for this team to get better. 

Coach Danny Hall made the decision to pull King and put Camron Hill in, but Hill was immediately pulled after two consecutive doubles and another run to make it 5-4. In one of the biggest spots of the game, Demitri Diamant came in for Hill and recorded the crucial final two strikeouts to end the inning. 

While Diamant was great, the game - as it often does - ultimately came down to the arm of Terry Busse. Scary Terry has been clutch for the Jackets all year long and he continued his awesome season with a save in the bottom of the ninth. 

Ironically, the pitching saved the Jackets in this one. The bats got off to a good start but really didn't do much of anything as the game progressed. Schmolke, Diamant, and Busse were able to keep the lead and hold off BC for a huge Game 1 win. 

The Jackets will be back in action against the Eagles tomorrow at 4 pm.

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Rohan Raman
ROHAN RAMAN

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