Daniel Palka Shines In Georgia Tech’s 12-8 Loss To Coastal Carolina

Jun 4, 2011; Atlanta, GA, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets designated hitter Daniel Palka (32) hits a home run against the Southern Miss Golden Eagles during the second inning in the Atlanta regional of the 2011 NCAA baseball tournament at Russ Chandler Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Junior OF Daniel Palka was the highlight for a Georgia Tech team that fell to Coastal Carolina, 12-8 yesterday. Palka hit two home runs during the game–taking the ACC lead in the category in the process–and was 3-4 with 4 RBI and 3 runs scored. It was a pretty good day for him. Oh yeah, he was also robbed of a two-run homer in the first inning after Coastal center fielder Jacob May, reached over the wall to take away a perfect day for the right fielder.

Pretty impressive stuff right? Yeah he also recorded a strike out in the ninth. Apparently the kid can pitch too. On his athletic page on Georgia Tech’s website he is listed as a 1B/OF/LHP. Any chance he can catch in a pinch? I wouldn’t be too surprised. On the season he is hitting .369/.462/.693 with 14 homers, a triple, and 13 doubles. Palka should be going near the end of the first round in the MLB draft this year.

However, Palka wasn’t enough to lift the Yellow Jackets over Coastal, who beat them on Friday, 7-4 as well. This will probably be enough drop the No. 23 Tech team out of the rankings entirely in the upcoming week.

Check out the full recap of the game here

*The Georgia Bulldogs had both of their games today rained out again, and canceled.