The Georgia Tech baseball team (20-11, 6-7 ACC) racked up six runs and 10 hits in the first three innings en route to a 7-3 win over No. 20 Florida State (17-12, 6-7) Friday night at Russ Chandler Stadium.
Parker Messick (4-2) was tagged with the loss, allowing 10 hits and six runs in 2.2 innings.
Conner Whittaker allowed a solo home run over 2.2 innings, the second-longest outing of his career. Dylan Simmons set career-highs with 1.2 innings pitched and three strikeouts, and Dylan Jacobs pitched a scoreless eighth inning. Combined, the bullpen allowed just one run on six hits in 5.1 innings.
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Kevin Parada got the scoring started with a two-run home run in the first inning, one of four hits for the Yellow Jackets in the frame. The Seminoles cut the lead in half in the second inning against Chance Huff (3-1) when Brett Roberts doubled and scored on Alex Toral’s groundout.
Georgia Tech took control with four more runs off Messick in the third inning.
Parada hit his second home run in the sixth inning to extend the lead to 7-1.
Toral and Tyler Martin singled in the seventh, and Logan Lacey extended the inning by reaching on a third strike passed ball. Jaime Ferrer plated two runs on a single to chip into the lead.
FSU loaded the bases in the ninth inning, but Georgia Tech’s Zach Maxwell struck out the next three batters for his first save of the year.
Game 2 between Florida State and Georgia Tech is set for Saturday at 4 p.m. on ACC Network Extra. LHP Bryce Hubbart (5-1) is pitching for the Seminoles.
FSU Softball falls in extra innings of Top-5 showdown
The No. 3 Florida State softball team (36-3, 16-3) fell to the No. 5 Virginia Tech Hokies (28-4, 12-0) 6-3 in nine innings in front of a standing-room-only crowd of 1,403 at JoAnne Graf Field in Tallahassee, Fla.
The two starting pitchers shined through the first three innings with neither team able to muster up a hit. The Noles finally got going in the fourth when Kaley Mudge drew a leadoff walk and was brought home on a double by Sydney Sherrill on the game’s first hit.
Devyn Flaherty then popped up to shallow right field, but it bounced off the fielder’s glove, scoring Sherrill to give the Noles a 2-0 lead. The Hokies would tie the game in the top of the fifth on a two-run home run to left field.
The Noles threatened in the sixth with runners on second and third but were unable to push one across. The two teams went scoreless in the seventh before Meredith Slaw hit her second home run of the game to give the Hokies a 3-2 lead in the top of the eighth.
The Noles were down to their final out before Michaela Edenfield hit a hard ground ball to third causing a high throw that sailed into the outfield. Edenfield scampered to third before another wild throw allowed her to advance all the way to home to tie the game. Flaherty was just mere inches from the winning run, as she hit a deep fly ball to center field that bounced off the top of the wall for a triple. The Noles were unable to push her across.
The Hokies responded again in the ninth with another two-run home run to give them the lead, which would ultimately become the game-winning runs.
Kathryn Sandercock suffered her first loss of the season but still had a strong outing allowing just four hits in 8.1 innings.
The Noles will be back in action Saturday at 1 p.m. with the series finale beginning at noon on Sunday.
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