Sons of former Braves pitch in Tech’s 7-3 loss.

Twenty-six years after their fathers helped deliver Atlanta’s first major sports championship, Marquis Grissom Jr. and Peyton Glavine competed on opposite sides of a game of markedly less importance than Game 6 of the 1995 World Series, but one memorable nonetheless.

On a warm evening at Russ Chandler Stadium, Grissom made his eagerly awaited pitching debut for the Yellow Jackets, showing flashes of brilliance but also submerging Tech in a deficit it could not erase in a 7-3 win for Auburn. The Tigers’ most effective pitcher was none other than Glavine, whose father, Tom, may be most fondly remembered by Braves fans for winning that World Series clincher over Cleveland, with the last out caught in center field by Marquis Grissom.

“I’m not happy that Peyton Glavine carved us up here (Tuesday), but it’s pretty special when you have (sons of ) two players of that caliber, one a Hall of Famer, one that seems like he played 20-plus years in Grissom Sr.,” Tech coach Danny Hall said.

Grissom, part of Tech’s powerhouse freshman class, showed enough in fall prac- tice to merit consideration for a spot in Hall’s weekend pitching rotation before a back injury in the preseason put the brakes on that conversation. He finally made his debut against Auburn, 7½ weeks into the season.

With his family in attendance, Grissom was in con- trol of the top half of the first inning, mixing speeds and retiring the side in 10 pitches, including an inning-ending strikeout. The right-hander encountered danger via a walk in the second, surrendering a two-run home run to Bryson Ware that hit the scoreboard in left-center on the fly, then giving up a fourpitch walk to Kason Howell, who scored with the aid of back-to-back singles for a 3-0 Auburn lead.

Grissom, a graduate of the Counterpane School, got out of the inning with a ground- out, ending his debut with three runs allowed on three hits, two walks and three strikeouts. He took the loss.

“First inning was really good,” said Hall, who had Grissom on a pitch count. “It was just great to see him out there.”

Hall acknowledged the dif- ficulty of making a college debut against an SEC oppo- nent and said Grissom got in

trouble against Ware by fall- ing behind in the count (3-1) and then making a bad pitch.

“We’ll keep bringing him along,” Hall said. “He’s just going to do nothing but get better.”

Glavine, a junior who attended Blessed Trinity, came on in the fifth and posted a pair of scoreless innings. With a left-handed delivery not unlike his father’s, Glavine allowed runners in both innings (a hit batsman and a walk) but escaped with a double play in the fifth and stranded Tres Gonzalez at third with a 5-3 groundout to Justyn-henry Malloy. Auburn (13-16) ended a five-game losing streak.

The Jackets have now lost six of seven, including their past two ACC series, to fall to 15-13. Tech had been ranked as high as sixth nationally before its slump, during which the Jackets have hit .247 and averaged 3.6 runs. Until the slump, Tech was hitting .304 and averaging 7.4 runs.

“Probably more frustrated with our offense (Tuesday),” Hall said. “I just felt like we should have swung the bat way better and we just didn’t do it.”

DANNY KARNIK/GEORGIA TECH ATHLETICS Tech freshman pitcher Marquis Grissom Jr., whose father was part of the Braves’ 1995 World Series-winning team, allowed three runs on three hits and two walks in his college debut Tuesday.