Brosius bombs, McKee's gutsy outing lift Tech to regional final
Georgia Tech is on the brink of accomplishing something the program hasn’t in two decades following a 9-3 win over Oklahoma on Saturday night to advance to the Atlanta Regional finals thanks in large part to a pair of big performances from upperclassmen.
Tech (50-9) will look for its first trip to the Super Regional round since 2006 when it takes the field on Sunday night at 6 p.m. vs. either Oklahoma or The Citadel, and they have senior Parker Brosius and and junior Tate McKee largely to thank for the opportunity.
Brosius continued his unbelievable May surge with a pair of two-run homers in Saturday night’s win including one in the sixth to turn a 3-3 tie into a 5-3 lead for the Jackets. He finished with four RBIs on the evening and his two blasts, which give him nine since May 8th when he officially became a Georgia Tech graduate. Prior to that, he had six homers in his four-year college career.
McKee (9-1) earned the win after he went six innings and allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits with eight strikeouts and four walks as he threw a season-high 104 pitches.
Caden Gaudette came in to pitch after that and wen one scoreless frame, allowing one hit and striking out one, and Dylan Loy finished the game out with two scoreless innings, allowing no hits, striking out two and walking one.
Also contributing offensively for the Jackets was Vahn Lackey, who continued his ridiculous surge of late, with a solo homer that traveled 468 feet over the scoreboard in left. Alex Hernandez added two more hits and two more RBIs to give him 11 so far in the regional, Ryan Zuckerman had a hit, an RBI and two runs scored and Will Baker drove in a run.
Kent Schmidt and Jarren Advincula also contributed a hit and scored a run.
Oklahoma (33-22) was led at the plate by Jackson Willits and Dayton Tockey who each had a solo homer. Kyle Branch contributed two hits for the Sooners while Jason Walk had a hit, drew two walks and scored a run.
Xander Mercurius (0-2) took the loss on the mound for Oklahoma after pitching 5 2/3 innings and allowing five runs on seven hits with eight strikeouts and three walks. The Sooners used five pitchers after that with Mason Bixby being the most effective as he didn’t allow a run or a hit, struck out two and walked two over 1 1/3 innings.
Scoring Recap…
Georgia Tech jumped on top in the second inning on yet another home run by Parker Brosius, his eighth since May 8th, a two-run shot to right to make it 2-0.
Oklahoma cut the deficit in half at 2-1 as Jason Walk scored from second base after a pick-off attempt got into center field in the top of the third.
Tech added another run to the lead in the fourth to make it 3-1 as Vahn Lackey connected for a solo homer over the scoreboard in left-center to the tune of 468 feet, edging out his 456-foot homer on Friday.
Oklahoma got back within a run at 3-2 thanks to a Dalton Tockey solo homer to left center in the fifth.
The Sooners added another solo homer in the sixth, this one coming from Jaxon Willits, to tie the game at 3-3.
Tech took a 5-3 lead on another powerful swing by Brosius in the bottom of the sixth as he connected for a two-run homer to right field to send the home crowd into a frenzy.
Despite a rain delay in the middle of it, Georgia Tech added four runs in the seventh thanks to a bases-loaded walk drawn by Ryan Zuckerman, a two-run single by Alex Hernandez and a sac fly from Will Baker to push the advantage to 9-3.
Up Next…
Georgia Tech will advance to the regional final on Sunday at 6 p.m. to take on the winner of The Citadel and Oklahoma.
Oklahoma will battle The Citadel in an elimination game on Sunday at 1 p.m. for the right to take on host Georgia Tech, needing to beat the Jackets twice to advance to Supers.
