DURHAM, N.C. — The University of Notre Dame baseball team scored first Wednesday afternoon at Durham Bulls Athletic Park but Georgia Tech rattled off seven unanswered runs to take a commanding six-run lead. The Irish fought back with four unanswered in the seventh but couldn’t come all the way back and fell to the Yellow Jackets 12-6.
Georgia Tech had a big fourth inning to take its first lead of the game and grew the lead to six after adding a run in the sixth. Notre Dame batted around in the seventh and scored four runs in the inning. The Irish threatened for more with the bases loaded but the Yellow Jackets got out of the inning and the Irish did not get any closer.
How It Happened
Notre Dame got on the board in the bottom of the first after Spencer Myers led the inning off with a single up the middle. He stole second for his team-leading 22nd steal of the season and got to third on a fly out to left. Myers came home to score on David LaManna’s RBI groundout. After the first inning, the Irish held a 1-0 lead.
Tommy Sheehan was cruising through the first two innings. After allowing a leadoff hit to begin the game, he retired the next three batters and the final two by strikeout to end the first.
In the second inning, Sheehan continued the strikeout brigade. He set the Yellow Jackets down in order after striking out the side for five-straight punch outs.
In the third, the Yellow Jackets tied the game after a couple of errors by the Irish defense. Sheehan stayed calm and got out of the inning with just the one unearned run allowed.
Georgia Tech took the lead in the fourth after scoring five runs in the inning. The Yellow Jackets had two RBI doubles in the inning to extend the lead.
Notre Dame got a run back in the bottom of the sixth after a leadoff double from Niko Kavadas. He moved to third on a line out to center and came home to score on a wild pitch.
The Irish had another rally in the seventh, batting around in the inning and sending four runs across the plate. Eric Gilgenbach scored the first run on an infield single from Ryan Cole and Jared Miller scored on an infield single from Kavadas. Cole came around to score on a fielder’s choice and Myers scored on a RBI single from Daniel Jung. The bases were loaded with two away but the Irish did not tack on any more runs and trailed 9-6 after seven innings.
Georgia Tech scored two in the top of the eighth and once more in the ninth to regain control and secure the win.
Game Notes
- Niko Kavadas tied a season high with three hits after going 3-for-4 at the plate with one run and one RBI.
- Spencer Myers recorded his 22nd steal of the season in the first inning. It is the most by an Irish players since AJ Pollock had 28 in the 2008 season.
- Myers tallied his 11th multi-run game of the season against Georgia Tech. He leads the team with 47 runs on the season.
- Tommy Sheehan finished the year with 92.1 innings pitched, the most innings in a season since 2013 when Adam Norton tallied 116.1.
For a behind-the-scenes look at the Irish baseball program, follow @NDBaseball on Twitter and @NotreDameBaseball on Instagram.
—ND—