Bobby Zmarzlak's go-ahead three-run homer erased Georgia Tech's two-run deficit in the bottom of the eighth as the Yellow Jackets defeated NC State 8-7 on Saturday at Russ Chandler Stadium.
NC State (12-5, 3-2 ACC) dropped its first series of the season as the Yellow Jackets flipped a 7-3 deficit in the seventh inning into an 8-7 comeback victory. Despite a pair of hard-hit outs to open the ninth, Georgia Tech (14-4, 2-0 ACC) retired the Wolfpack in order to seal the series victory.
Georgia Tech struck first behind Cam Jones' RBI single, scoring
Payton Green from second base after a leadoff double down the left-field line. Wolfpack starting pitcher
Logan Whitaker limited the damage in the Yellow Jackets' second frame with an unassisted double play from third baseman
Alec Makarewicz. Makarewicz gloved a line drive from Zmarzlak before tagging out Jones who was breaking for third base on the pitch.
NC State needed just one batter to match Georgia Tech's tally from the second when
Luke Nixon crushed a solo homer down the right-field line to knot the score at 1-1. Nixon's game-tying shot came on a 3-1 pitch in his first at-bat of the week after missing the past two games due to injury.
Georgia Tech freshman Drew Burress answered Nixon's homer with a solo home run of his own, driving a solo shot to center field with two outs in the bottom of the third. Burress' homer re-established the Jackets' lead at 2-1.
The Wolfpack took its first lead with three runs in the top of the fourth. The Pack built its 4-2 lead behind back-to-back singles from
Jacob Cozart and
Alex Sosa to open the inning before
Eli Serrano III was hit by a pitch to load the bases with nobody out.
Brandon Butterworth drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the score at 2-2.
Two pitches later, Georgia Tech starter Aeden Finateri exited the game after opening the ensuing at-bat to
Noah Soles with back-to-back balls. The Wolfpack scored two off Yellow Jackets' reliever Michal Kovala behind RBI groundouts from Soles and
Luke Nixon.
Whitaker capped off a scoreless fourth frame with his seventh strikeout, maintaining the Pack's two-run cushion at 4-2. NC State then extended its lead to 6-2 on a two-run error by Georgia Tech third baseman Carson Kerce in the fifth. Kerce's error with two outs in the fifth allowed Cozart and Makarewicz to score to make it five unanswered runs for the Wolfpack.
Kerce opened the bottom of the fifth with a solo homer to right field, trimming the Jackets' deficit to 6-3.
NC State missed an opportunity to answer Kerce's solo shot in the top of the sixth as the Yellow Jackets used a 6-4-3 ground-ball double play to end a bases-loaded, one-out Wolfpack threat in the sixth. The Wolfpack, however, re-established its four-run advantage with two outs in the seventh behind Butterworth's RBI double down the left-field line. After back-to-back flyouts to open the inning, Serrano III dropped down a bunt single to beat the shift before Butterworth roped his RBI double on the next pitch to make it 7-3 Wolfpack.
Burress homered for the second time Saturday to cut the Pack's lead to 7-5 in the bottom of the seventh. Georgia Tech then retook the lead when Zmarzlak's three-run home run just creeped over the 334-foot sign in right field, giving the Yellow Jackets an 8-7 advantage in the eighth.
Pennington paced the Wolfpack with a two-hit performance, while Butterworth and
Luke Nixon each tallied two RBI apiece.
Wolfpack reliever
Jacob Dudan (2-1) suffered the first loss of his collegiate career, while Yellow Jackets' relief pitcher Brett Thomas (1-0) notched his first victory of the season.
UP NEXTNC State closes out its first ACC road series of the season Sunday. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. and will be broadcasted on ACC Network Extra.
https://gopack.com/news/2024/3/16/baseball-pack9-falls-8-7-at-georgia-tech-on-saturday 
