Georgia Tech Wins, Eliminates Southern Miss in NCAA Atlanta Regional

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets jumped out early with five runs in the second inning on their way to beat the Southern Miss Golden Eagles Saturday at in the NCAA Atlanta Regional, 6-2.

It was a win-or-go-home situation for both teams in the NCAA Tournament and the Yellow Jackets answered with both timely hitting and a great pitching performance from junior Jed Bradley.

“We are a much happier group today,” Yellow Jacket head coach Danny Hall said. “I thought there were a couple keys to the game today, Jed started off really well and Brandon (Thomas) was able to hit the home run and give us a big inning. We got a nice lead after the second inning and pretty much stayed in control throughout the rest of the game.”

Bradley threw 7 2/3 innings, allowing eight hits and just two earned runs to earn the victory and flourished after Georgia Tech gave him five runs of support in the second inning.

Designated hitter Daniel Palka started the second with a solo home run to right field. Three more consecutive Yellow Jackets hitters hit safely before the first out of the inning was recorded on a Zane Evans sacrifice bunt to move runners to second and third.

On the second pitch of the next at-bat Brandon Thomas blasted a 3-run home run to give the Yellow Jackets a 5-run lead.

“It started with Zane getting a bunt down before I came up to hit. It was nice to get those runners in scoring position. I was just looking for a pitch I could drive to get those two runs on the board and luckily it carried over the fence for the third.”

As nice as it was to get good hitting and to plate runners from scoring position – a problem on Friday for the Yellow Jackets – Bradley’s performance on the mound not only kept Georgia Tech on top, but since he pitch so deep into the game, Tech’s bullpen remains fresh.

“He threw a lot of strikes,” said Hall about Bradley’s performance on the mound. “I thought he had a really good fastball, threw a bunch of sliders for strikes.

It was very critical because we saved our bullpen; we did use Clay Dalton there at the end. For Jed to go 7.2 and just have to use one guy, that gives us a great chance to have some arms to go at it tomorrow and hopefully the next day.”

Georgia Tech returns to play Sunday and must face Austin Peay, the team that beat them Friday and sent the Jackets to the loser’s bracket. First pitch is scheduled for 3:06 p.m. and the Yellow Jackets have until then to decide on a starting pitcher.

“I know Buck Farmer is going to pitch one of the games, I assume he’ll pitch the 3 o’clock game,” said Hall on his upcoming decision on which hurler to use first Sunday. “I have utmost confidence in Buck. I still feel like we have a lot of pitching left, but you still have to go one game at a time. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing you just have to try and win that, survive, and move on to the next one.”

If Tech wins its afternoon game versus Austin Peay, it will return to action and face Mississippi State at 7 p.m. The Bulldogs are undefeated thus far in the Atlanta Regional.

For Georgia Tech to win the Atlanta Regional and advance to a Super regional, it will have to beat Austin Peay Sunday, and then Mississippi State twice.