ATLANTA, Ga. – The University of Notre Dame baseball team battled back from a five-run deficit to take the lead on Georgia Tech Sunday afternoon at Russ Chandler Stadium. The Irish ultimately fell to the 29th-ranked Yellow Jackets 8-7.
The Irish stormed back after giving up five runs in the first inning. They chipped away during the middle innings and got within striking distance heading into the final three innings. In the seventh, Niko Kavadas blasted a two-run homer to right to tie the game.
In the eighth, Daniel Jung gave the Irish their first lead of the afternoon when a single to left scored two on the play. Georgia Tech responded with three in the bottom of the eighth to regain the lead and clinch the series.
How It Happened
Georgia Tech jumped in front in the bottom of the first once again, this time scoring five in the opening inning.
Irish got on the board in the top of the third. David LaManna and Jake Singer worked full-count walks and advanced over on Jack Zyska sacrifice bunt. Spencer Myers hit a grounder to second that scored LaManna for the first run of the afternoon.
Andrew Belcik kept the Irish in the game during the middle innings. He got out of a bases-loaded jam in the second and set the Yellow Jackets down in order in the third and fourth inning.
The Irish took advantage of some misfortune by the Yellow Jackets in the fifth and turned it into two runs. Singer got on after an error by the left fielder and scored after a single up the middle by Zyska. Another error on a fielder’s choice ended up with runners on the corners for the Irish and Daniel Jung brought Zyska home on a bunt single up the first base line.
In the top of the seventh, the Yellow Jackets looked to have a 1-2-3 inning in order but Eric Gilgenbach worked the count full and ended up with a single to left field. Kavadas stepped into the box and turned on a 2-1 pitch to right that cleared the fence and tied the game for the Irish. It was Kavadas’ seventh home run of the year and tied Gilgenbach for the team lead.
The Irish jumped in front in the eighth after a two-out RBI single from Jung. Ryan Cole scored on the play and a throwing error led to Spencer Myers coming around to score and increase the lead.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Yellow Jackets had a rally of their own after they cleared the bases on a double from Serratos.
In the ninth, the Irish got the tying run in scoring position but couldn’t bring him around to score and tie the game.
Game Notes
- Niko Kavadas hit his seventh home run of the season in the seventh to tie the game. He is tied with Gilgenbach for the team-lead.
- Andrew Belcik posted a season-long outing of relied with 3.1 innings pitched against the Yellow Jackets. He retired eight batters in a row during his outing.
- Joe Boyle set career highs with 2.1 innings pitched and five strikeouts in relief for the Irish.
- Jack Zyska tallied his second RBI in as many games when he singled up the middle in the fifth.
- Daniel Jung tallied two RBI for his third multi-RBI game of the season.
Up Next
Notre Dame will return to campus and begin a nine-game homestand Tuesday against Central Michigan at Frank Eck Stadium. The Irish with then play a seven-inning exhibition game against the South Bend Cubs on Wednesday at Four Winds Field. Ticket sales from the game will be split between both teams to a charity of their choice. The Fighting Irish will donate their portion to the Samantha Hickey Foundation, which raises money for Memorial Hospital’s Pediatric Cancer Center. The South Bend Cubs charity is the Center for the Homeless.
For a behind-the-scenes look at the Irish baseball program, follow @NDBaseball on Twitter and @NotreDameBaseball on Instagram. For tickets to an Irish baseball game, click here.
–ND–