Takeaways: Georgia Tech Avoids Elimination and Defeats Army 4-2 In Athens Regional

What are the key takeaways from Georgia Tech's win over Army?

Georgia Tech Athletics

It was not a dominant win for the Yellow Jackets today, but they got the job done against Army and avoided elimination. Now they will wait to see their opponent for 12:00 p.m. EST tomorrow, where they will try to avoid elimination once again.

After getting beaten 9-0 in their opening game against UNC Wilmington, the Yellow Jackets pitching settled in and got the job done, especially the bullpen. The offense was not great, but they did just enough, especially early on to get the win.

So what are the key takeaways from the win today?

1. Aeden Finateri pitched a solid game...

When Finateri is on, he can be Georgia Tech's best pitcher and he pitched a solid game today vs the Black Knights. He finished six innings, gave up eight hits, two runs, and struck out five batters. He did give up a two-run home run in the 6th inning, but he pitched five innings of scoreless baseball and kept Georgia Tech ahead. He was asked after the game about mentally preparing for a win or go home scenario like Georgia Tech faced today and here is what he had to say:

“I think our with our team’s motto, we weren’t going to have this be our last game of the season. We were going go to out there and do whatever it took to get the win, extend our season and give us a chance to go on and keep playing. I think that mindset from the jump, even in the first inning with two homers and put up a zero in the first proves our mindset for today."

Finateri did his job today and Georgia Tech is moving on because of it.

2. The Bullpen closed the game well...

Georgia Tech's bullpen is not always the most dependable (most college bullpens aren't), but they closed the final three innings today vs Army. Riley Stanford had to work out of a jam in the 8th inning and after walking the leadoff batter in the 9th, Tate McKee got the final three outs of the game and Georgia Tech won the game. The bullpen is going to have to continue to pitch well, especially in a matchup with an offense like UGA's, but they did the job today.

3. The offense will likely need to produce more in the games ahead...

Georgia Tech has one of the better offenses in the country, but they are going to need to figure some things out if they want to possibly win this region. Going back to the ACC Tournament, Georgia Tech has scored four runs combined in their last three games and one of them was a bases loaded walk today. The pitching was able to get them across the finish line today, but the bats are going to have to wake up if Georgia Tech wants to keep their season alive.

It looked like the Yellow Jackets offense was going to have a big day in the first inning when Drew Burress and John Giesler each hit a solo home run. Buress talked about his home run after the game:

“We knew their pitcher was throwing a lot of solid stuff down, cutters, change ups, some breaking balls. I was kind of just going to push something up in the zone, I got a hitters count, he left me a fastball down the zone, I got a good hit on it and it did what it was supposed to do."

Giesler gave Burress a lot of credit for giving him the confidence to go up there and blast one after he did:

“I give a lot of credit to Drew for doing that before I got up there gives me a lot of confidence, especially since we’ve been shut out in the last two games, which doesn’t happen a lot to us. I saw him take through a cutter, and I was just trying to hang it up the middle. I think I got a hanging breaking ball and just finally stayed through enough to poke it out of there."