Jackets advance to College World Series

Omaha, Neb. is the next destination for Tech's baseball team. The Jackets (50-16) have advanced to their third College World Series in school history with a win over the Cougars of the College of Charleston this past Saturday.

The Jackets got to the Atlanta Super Regional by winning their first round regional last week, defeating Vanderbilt twice.

On a sultry June afternoon, in front of the crowd of nearly 4,000 at Russ Chandler Stadium. Tech was looking for redemption after losing last year's Super Regional to Tennessee and the Jackets didn't disappoint as they proved too much for the Cougars (46-17), to win the best-of-three series. Tech had won the first game 5-0 the previous day.

"I'm excited for our team, our fans and the administration here at Georgia Tech. We have a chance to go to Omaha and play for a national championship," said head coach Danny Hall as reported by www.ramblinwreck.com.

In Saturday's game, Whit Robbins dominated the plate and Lee Hyde controlled the mound as the Jackets advanced past the super regionals, becoming the first team in the tournament to advance to the World Series.

The Cougars took the first lead of the game by scoring a run off a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first.

Wes Hodges, who was battling injury, responded in the top of the second for the Jackets with an RBI double.

The lead, however, didn't stay in Tech's favor long as C of C regained the lead with a home run in the bottom of the second inning.

Lee Hyde, who struggled some in the beginning innings, settled in to take control of the game.

"I left some balls up in the zone, and I was having trouble with my command. I just tried to settle down and started throwing strikes," said pitcher Hyde.

The top of the fourth inning saw Tech's offense finally gain composure when Robbins hit a two-run home run. The lead would stay in Tech's favor for the rest of the game.

In the fifth inning, the Jacket offense, fueled by Jeff Kindel's two-run home run, really heated up as they stretched their lead to 8-2.

The Cougars managed to gain a run in the bottom of the eighth, but the Jackets responded with four runs in the top of the ninth to cushion their lead to 12-3, thus sealing the fate of the Cougars.

For the game, the Jackets had 12 runs from 15 hits. Robbins led the offense, going 3-for-6 with one home run and three RBI's. Luke Murton also had a productive day, going three-for-five, with one RBI.

For the defense, Lee Hyde threw eight strong innings, allowing six hits and two earned runs. He also struck out eight batters while only allowing two walks. The win was Hyde's sixth of the season.

In Friday's game, the Jackets set the tone for the weekend. Tech blanked the No. 11 Cougars 5-0 to win the first game of the series. Blake Wood took the mound for the Jackets, earning his 11th win of the season.

The game didn't stay scoreless long as Kindel hit a solo homerun to right field to give Tech a 1-0 lead.

In the fourth inning, the Cougars threatened to tie but Kindel gunned down Alex Garabedian at the plate to maintain the lead for the Jackets.

"I just saw him rounding third base and I didn't know if I had a shot at him or not so I just cut it loose, put it on the money, and Wieters tagged him out at the plate," Kindel said.

The Jackets continued to extend their lead with Matt Wieters hitting a solo homerun in the fifth and a RBI single in the seventh, making the lead 3-0.

Wes Hodges hit a RBI single to score Robbins, while Murton scored off a fielding error to make the score 5-0 in the bottom of the eighth.

Wood led the Jackets' defense by throwing 6.2 innings, allowing no runs, eight hits, six strikeouts and only one walk.

"It's just like any other game. I was relaxed and was just ready to go." Wood said.

Wieters led the offensive charge for the Jackets going two-for-four with two RBIs.

The Jackets had five runs off nine hits for the game on Friday.

This season marks the 21st time in 22 years that the Jackets have advanced to the regionals. Tech has hosted a super regional for the past three years.

Wieters, who was named to first team All-America this past Tuesday, was also named the Atlanta Regional Most Valuable Player.

Mike Trapani, Kindel, Michael Fisher, and Ryan Turner joined Wieters on the all-tournament team.

Tech will be playing in the College World Series today at 2 p.m ET. facing the No. 1 Clemson Tigers.

This marks the seventh meeting between the two teams this year.