Georgia Tech coach James Ramsey explained several late-game pitching decisions after his team’s shocking 8-7 defeat to Oklahoma in the deciding game of the Atlanta Regional.
The Yellow Jackets’ usual closer, Mason Patel, threw five scoreless frames before the wheels fell off at the end of his afternoon. He allowed three runs in the final two innings he threw while eclipsing a season-high in innings pitched and a new career-high of 100 pitches.
“Whether it was pulling a guy too soon (or) leaving a guy in, I go back to just the actual humans that we stuck with and what they mean to the program,” Ramsey said. “When Patel’s on the mound, there’s nothing this team can’t accomplish.”
Dylan Loy fanned the flames Patel lit and closed out the eighth with Tech still in front 7-6, but it was not the lefty who took to the mound to close out the game, despite Oklahoma bringing two southpaws to the dish to start the ninth.
Ramsey said that there were thoughts of bringing Loy in for the ninth and that he and his staff meet “tirelessly” to go through scenarios that put players in position to succeed.
Starter Tate McKee, much to the surprise of those inside Mac Nease Baseball Park at Russ Chandler Stadium, entered the field after throwing 104 pitches in Saturday’s 9-3 win over the Sooners. The relief appearance was just the second of McKee’s career.
He struggled, giving up the tying run in the ninth. Despite McKee crossing the century mark just two days prior, Ramsey again sent his Friday starter out for the 10th inning.
McKee surrendered a walk-off solo shot to Dayton Tockey, the first batter he faced in the 10th, that sucked the air out of the ballpark and ended the Jackets’ season in shocking fashion.
“Obviously, it was a big ask to have Tate come out for the ninth,” Ramsey said. “At the end of the day, you hate saying it, but (it is) the old adage of, ‘If we’re going to lose this game, you have this guy on the mound, you’re OK with it.’”
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