DURHAM, N.C. – Midnight came at 3:11 in the afternoon for the California Golden Bears, the mostly unheralded 16th seed in the Atlantic Coast Conference baseball tournament who won two games in the single-elimination tournament to earn a quarterfinal matchup with the top seeded Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
Georgia Tech launched seven homers in the game, scoring all of their runs in the 10-3 win via the long ball, with six different players homering at least once as the Yellow Jackets rambled into Saturday’s semifinals.
When Georgia Tech came to bat in the bottom of the first, Drew Burress launched the second pitch he saw from Cal starter J.J. Hollis over the blue monster in left field for his 16th homer of the year and a 1-0 Yellow Jacket lead.
After a single by Kent Schmidt, Alex Lodise homered to center, his fly ball carrying past the outstretched glove of XX French, who could only watch as the ball caromed off the top of the wall and into the batter’s eye for a two-run homer that made it 3-0. Three batters later, Caleb Daniel launched a 426-foot solo homer over the right field bleachers and onto the right field party deck, making it 4-0.
The Golden Bears battled back, putting Cole Tremain on the mound for the second inning, and he responded by allowing just one hit and one walk with five strikeouts over five scoreless innings.
“We came in and, you know, hit a bunch of homers in the first inning to get out to the lead,” Georgia Tech head coach Danny Hall said following the game. “And then, you know, Cole Tremain had a different idea after that. He kind of came in, settled the game for them, and then we finally got him out and then hit a few more homers.”
Cal got a run in the fifth on an RBI single by Jarren Advincula that scored Alex Birge, and then loaded the bases when Dominic Smaldino drew a walk and Jacob French singled. But Georgia Tech starter Tate McKee remained poised and struck out Carl Schmidt looking to end the threat.
Two innings later, Cal cut the lead to 4-2 when Smaldino’s single drove in Advincula from second, but that was all the offense the Golden Bears could muster.
Drew Rogers’ lead-off homer in the seventh made it 5-2, and then Cal’s offense exploded in the eighth. Alex Hernandez led off the eight with a homer to make it 6-2, and then Lackey hit a fly ball to the left center field gap that Cal center fielder Ethan Kodama chased to the warning track. Kodama dove and the ball eluded his glove, bouncing off the wall and towards center field while Kodama lay prone on the dirt. By the time the ball was retrieved, Lackey was rounding third and was sent home, evading the tag of Bears’ catcher Alex Birge for an inside-the-park homer. It was a dazzling display of athleticism and speed from a player who’s position seldom provides those two qualities to a lineup.
“I’ll get in trouble for saying this but probably the best athlete that we have had back there I tell this story because you know he’s caught most of our games particularly in conference but he’s also played some at third,” Hall said. “Other than pitcher, he can play any position on the field.”