ATLANTA—(February 17, 2017) No. 21 Georgia Tech got a pair of homeruns for a 5-3 opening-day victory over BYU baseball on Friday afternoon in the Atlanta Challenge.

Ryan Peurifoy got Georgia Tech aboard with its first hit, a two-out solo homerun off the centerfield batter’s eye on the first pitch by Maverik Buffo in the second inning.

A two-run homer to left field by Kel Johnson extended the Ramblin Wreck’s lead to 5-0 in the fifth inning.

“There's a reason Georgia Tech is ranked 21st in the country,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said.  “They are big, athletic, physical guys, and they have a lot of confidence on their home field. The difference in this game was our inability to get a big hit with runners in scoring position.  We continually put the pressure on them but their pitchers made pitches when needed.”

The Cougars, who had at least one base runner every inning, had chances to tie a couple times to no avail as they out-hit Tech 11 to seven.

BYU’s Brennon Anderson got a two-out double and tried to score on Tanner Chauncey’s single to left field, but was thrown out at the plate to end the third.  Buffo loaded the bases in the bottom of that frame, then made an errant pickoff throw to second to allow the first of two more Yellow Jacket runs for a 3-0 lead.

Brock Hale got BYU’s second double of the day, a two-out blast to right field, but was stranded in the fourth.

Freshman Xzavion Curry struck out five in as many innings  and was replaced by Jake Lee who got stung by a pair of BYU sluggers.

Keaton Kringlen extended his current hitting streak to 12 games with a sharp single to third, then was driven home on the first pitch delivered by reliever to Colton Shaver  for a homer to right center to close the margin to 5-2. It was Shaver’s 24th dinger of his three-year career.

Cougars Rhett Parkinson and Mason Marshall made good relief appearances in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. Lefty Parkinson set Tech down in order, then Marshall had a pair of strikeouts.

That allowed a good top of the eighth inning by BYU, narrowing the gap to 5-3. Tanner Chauncey drew a lead-off walk, then Kringlen dribbled an infield single.  Chauncey advanced to third on a fly-out to the right field wall by Brock Hale and scored on Kyle Dean’s single to center.

Sophomore Daniel Schneemann was 3-for-5 on the afternoon, getting the initial single of the afternoon from his lead-off spot in the first and to right field in the ninth.

“We kicked the ball around a little bit, which is unlike us, but overall I was proud of the effort in a tough ACC environment,” Littlewood said. “I told the guys if we play like this every game we are going to win a lot of games this year. We need a better outing from Maverik, but he knows that and he'll put the work in to make the necessary adjustments.”

The Cougars (0-1) continue play in the Atlanta Challenge on Saturday at 2 p.m. EST at nearby Kennesaw State (1-0).

No. 21 Georgia Tech starts BYU baseball’s 2017 season this this Friday in the six-team Atlanta Challenge in Georgia.

The Cougars also play afternoon games at Kennesaw State on Saturday and at Georgia State in Decatur on Monday.  Tech has also been ranked No. 29 by National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, No. 38 by Collegiate Baseball in addition to its higher ranking by Baseball America.  The Cougars received votes in preseason polls by the NCBWA and Collegiate Baseball, but were not ranked.

Practice games at Michigan State and at the Caribbean island Curaçao against its national team last semester verified BYU will again be a power hitting team.  The silver lining may be how the deep Cougar pitching staff blessed with more lefties delivers during the season after practicing against its slugging teammates.

Fifth-year head Coach Mike Littlewood will start junior righthander Maverik Buffo (6-2, 3.63 in 2016) will on the mound against Georgia Tech. After Friday’s game against the Yellow Jackets, senior redshirt righthander Brady Corless (2-4, 5.51 in 2015) is expected to be BYU’s starting pitcher on Saturday, but Monday’s pitcher is yet to be announced.

"This time of year is like our second Christmas,” Littlewood said.  “Opening day is a always a special day for baseball guys and this year is no different.  We know we open up with three tough opponents, but at the same time we feel cautiously optimistic about the prospects of our upcoming season.  One thing for certain is we have a bunch of guys that will fight for each other and they will leave everything on the field every day."

All-Americans Colton Shaver and Keaton Kringlen have been spotlighted early among the bevy of talented Cougar hitters.  Shaver was projected by D1baseball.com as the WCC’s player of the year. Kringlen, a sophomore, brings an 11-game hitting streak into the season. The Cougars have been prognosticated as one of the top four teams in the West Coast Conference as they ready for defense of the league title.

Following the trip to Georgia, the Cougars have consecutive road trips to California to play San Jose State, Northern Colorado and CSU Bakersfield before opening the home season against nationally ranked UC Santa Barbara in a four-game series.

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