Late-inning surge powers No. 3 Georgia Tech past Virginia in ACC quarters

Two runs to begin the bottom half of the seventh, driven in by first baseman Kent Schmidt and right fielder Alex Hernandez, got the rally brewing. Then, with the bases loaded and two outs, left fielder Parker Brosius flipped the game upside down with a 377-foot blast that cleared the bases and gave the Yellow Jackets a lead it did not relinquish.

Shortstop Carson Kerce followed Brosius’ homer with his second of the day, giving Georgia Tech a three-run lead entering the eighth inning.

“There is never a point where we are out of a baseball game,” catcher Vahn Lackey said after the win. “I feel like all of our guys, one through nine, were always thinking one pitch at a time. … We just chip away because that’s just who we are.”

Yellow Jackets starter Tate McKee exited his outing in the fourth inning with an injury. He picked up six early strikeouts and allowed one run on three hits and two walks in his three-plus innings of work.

Kerce opened the scoring with a 362-foot shot to right in the third inning. The Cavaliers responded and took a 2-1 lead through first baseman Antonio Perrotta, who launched a two-run shot off lefty Dylan Loy after he replaced McKee on the mound.

Brosius tied the game at two apiece with a groundout to first, which was followed by Kerce’s first clutch hit of the day — a two-RBI single to left that made it 4-2 in favor of the Yellow Jackets.

The Cavaliers continued to hamper Loy, tagging him for four earned runs in just one inning of work. Closer Mason Patel was also responsible for four earned runs, the most he has allowed in relief this season.

Center fielder Drew Burress prevented an extra-base hit from Cavaliers right fielder Zach Jackson and limited the damage to a sacrifice fly. The flying effort was subject to a rare double-challenge, as Virginia challenged the ruling of a catch and Georgia Tech challenged the ruling of Cavaliers center fielder Harrison Didawick legally tagging up on the play. Both calls were confirmed after review.

Two more home runs in the eighth from Lackey and Schmidt solidified the Yellow Jackets’ grip on the game, and right-hander Justin Shadek closed it out after working a game-ending double play.

“That is maybe the best offense in college baseball I have seen in the last 10 years,” Virginia head coach Chris Pollard said postgame.

Georgia Tech’s ACC Tournament journey will continue Saturday, when it faces the winner of No. 5 seed Miami and No. 4 seed Boston College in the semifinals at 1 p.m. ET on the ACC Network.