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No. 21 Baseball Hosts No. 18 UNC in Top 25 Battle

March 19, 2015

GT Game Notes 2015 Media Guide Season Statistics
#21 GEORGIA TECH YELLOW JACKETS (15-5, 4-2) vs. #18 NORTH CAROLINA TAR HEELS (12-8, 3-3)
March 20-22, 2015
Atlanta, Ga.• Russ Chandler Stadium (4,157)
Friday (7 pm ET): ESPN3 | Saturday (1 pm ET): ESPN3 | Saturday (4 pm ET): ESPN3 Radio: WREK 91.1 FM Atlanta Listen Live
DIGGIN’ IN Series Preview from WREK: Podcast

>> Winners of 11 of its last 13 games, No. 21 Georgia Tech hosts No. 18 North Carolina this weekend in a key ACC Coastal Division series at Russ Chandler Stadium. All three games will air live on ESPN3 and WREK 91.1 FM Atlanta. Live audio can also be accessed at RamblinWreck.com and via WREK on the TuneIn app.

>> The Yellow Jackets have claimed five straight regular-season series wins over the Tar Heels and lead the all-time series 72-57. Under head coach Danny Hall, Tech is 40-27 versus UNC. The Jackets won the final two games of the series in Chapel Hill last season and walked off twice on the Heels in their last visit to Atlanta in 2013. Five of the last six games in the series have been one- or two-run games and three decided in extra innings.

>> Tech — No. 4 in the RPI — is the only ACC team with a winning record on each weekend this season.

>> As a team, Tech leads the ACC in fielding (.977), is second in slugging (.445), third in average (.299), doubles (50), home runs (17) and most walks (98), and fourth in runs (154). The Jackets entered the week ranked in the NCAA’s top 25 in each of these categories, including seventh in doubles, 13th in slugging, 14th in scoring and 24th in fielding.

>> Tech is outscoring opponents 38-10 over the final two innings plus extras (22-5 in the eighth, 13-3 in the ninth and 3-2 in extras). The Jackets have two walk-off wins to their credit and have already won three times this season when trailing entering the ninth inning, including Tuesday’s win at Kennesaw State when Tech scored twice in the ninth to force extra innings and twice more in the 11th for the win. Eight of Tech’s 15 wins this year are come-from-behind victories.

>> The Jackets have benefited from strong late-game work from sophomore RHP Zac Ryan, who is already 4-0 with three saves and a 2.28 ERA. Of his team-best 11 appearances, eight have been scoreless, including six of the last eight. Ryan is the ACC’s only pitcher with four or more wins AND three or more saves.

>> Among NCAA freshmen, Kel Johnson entered the week tied for first in home runs, second in slugging (.694) second in RBI (23) and third in doubles (eight). He opened his career with a seven-game hit streak, was held hitless in back-to-back games and had an eight-game streak halted at Duke. He has been held hitless just three times this year. Seven of his last nine games have been multi-hit efforts, including 2-for-6 at Kennesaw State with a game-tying single in the ninth.

>> Senior Daniel Spingola and junior Matt Gonzalez each bring eight-game hitting streaks into the week. Gonzalez is hitting .400 (12-for-30) over his current eight-game hitting streak with nine RBI, five doubles and both of his home runs this season. Spingola, who led the ACC with 82 hits last season, has reached base safely in 11 straight games. He is hitting .394 (13-for-33) over his hit streak with eight runs, two doubles and a home run.

>> Sophomore Brandon Gold puts a streak of 22 straight scoreless innings on the line in Sunday’s start. He has not allowed a run since entering the weekend rotation and is already 3-0 with the ACC’s best ERA of 0.61.

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