UCLA
4-1
UCLA at Georgia Tech
3-1
No. 3 Bruins Fall to No. 19 Georgia Tech on 11th Inning Walk-Off
February 22, 2019 | Baseball
ATLANTA, Ga. – Kyle McCann hit a walk-off home run over the center field fence in the bottom of the 11th inning to lead No. 19 Georgia Tech to a 4-3 win over No. 3 UCLA on Friday night at Russ Chandler Stadium.
The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the Bruins (4-1), who were playing their first road game of the year. The Yellow Jackets improved to 3-1 with the win.
Sophomore right fielder Garrett Mitchell went 3-5 with a pair of runs to lead UCLA offensively. Freshman Matt McLain added a pair of singles and flashed a solid arm in center field.
UCLA had a chance to go ahead in the top half of the 11th, but a pair of standout defensive plays from Georgia Tech prevented that opportunity.
Pinch-hitter Jarron Silva led off that frame by rolling a grounder back up the middle for a base hit, then moved to second on a Ryan Kreidler sac bunt. From there, a tapper up the first base line by pinch-hitter RJ Teijeiro led to the lead runner being thrown out after a heads-up throw to third from pitcher Tristan English. On the next play, Jeremy Ydens was robbed of an inning-extending hit when his grounder to deep short resulted in a backhand-and-throw to second from GT shortstop Austin Wilhite.
Junior right-hander Kyle Mora was tagged with the loss despite a gutsy relief effort. Taking over for Zach Pettway to start the eighth inning, Mora logged three-plus innings of relief and struck out six Jackets batters.
Despite facing high-leverage situations practically from the moment he entered the game, Mora allowed just a single in the eighth, struck out the side in order in the ninth, and pitched around a leadoff walk in the 10th. He has now struck out 14 batters in just seven innings of work this year.
Earlier in the game, the Bruins came back from deficits of 2-1 and 3-2 to tie the game.
Junior DH Kyle Cuellar knotted the game in the fourth with a line drive sac fly left field, and pinch-hitter Jack Stronach tied the game again in the sixth with a solid line single to left, playing Mitchell.
Pettway was solid in his second outing of the year, logging a quality start with three earned runs allowed over seven innings. He allowed just five hits, walked one, and struck out five.
The sophomore right-hander started out hot, recording a three-up, three-down first inning including a pair of strikeouts. In the fourth, he picked up another pair of strikeouts while using his heel to slow down a ground ball, letting sophomore shortstop Kevin Kendall collect and throw to first as part of another 1-2-3 inning.
Georgia Tech received multi-hit performances from Wilhite (2-4) and outfielder Chase Murray (2-4). English, who started the game at first base, picked up the win with three shutout innings of relief. Starter Zxavion Curry allowed one two runs in a five-inning outing.
UCLA and Georgia Tech resume the series tomorrow, with first pitch scheduled for 11:00 a.m. PT. The Bruins will send redshirt junior Jack Ralston (1-0, 0.00) to the mound opposite GT's Connor Thomas (0-0, 0.00). The game will be streamed on ACC Network Extra, and can be viewed on the ESPN App with a valid cable subscription.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: English, T (1-0)
L: Mora, Kyle (0-1)
Batting:
RBI: Cuellar, Kyle 1 ; McInerny, Will 1 ; Stronach, Jack 1
SH: Kreidler, Ryan 1
SF: Cuellar, Kyle 1 ; McInerny, Will 1
Base Running:
RUNS: McLain, Matt 1 ; Mitchell, Garrett 2
Batting:
2B: Wilhite, A 1
HR: Waddell, L 1 ; McCann, K 1
RBI: Waddell, L 1 ; McCann, K 1 ; Wilhite, A 1 ; Guldberg, M 1
SH: Wilhite, N 1
SF: Guldberg, M 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Waddell, L 1 ; McCann, K 2 ; Serratos, O 1
