April 12, 2017

Baseball Welcomes No. 2 Louisville to The Flats

April 12, 2017

GT Game Notes | Louisville Game Notes | 2017 GT Baseball Information Guide

THE FLATS – The Yellow Jackets (16-15, 4-11 ACC) return home after a five-game road swing to host the No. 2 Louisville Cardinals (28-4, 12-3 ACC) on Thursday, Friday and Saturday in ACC play. First pitch for both Thursday and Friday will be 6 p.m. ET. Saturday’s game will start at 1 p.m. ET.

FOLLOW THE ACTION LIVE

• All three ACC games will be broadcast live on ACC Network Extra and the WatchESPN App.

• Live stats can be found at RamblinWreck.com. A link to live stats can also be found on the baseball schedule page at RamblinWreck.com or at the top of this page.

• Wiley Ballard will also broadcast the game live over the radio air waves on WREK 91.1 FM.

THINGS FANS NEED TO KNOW

• Traffic Alert: Ferst Drive is currently closed between Cherry Street and State Street. All vehicle traffic to Russ Chandler Stadium from West Campus is shut down until construction is completed.

To enter Klaus Parking Deck, you must access Ferst Drive via Fowler Street.

All access from the I-85 / I-75 Connector, 10th street, 5th street, and North Avenue will be open. Please Reference the map by clicking here.

• Thursday is Greek Night in Russ Chandler Stadium so join the GT Sororities and Fraternities at the series opener and welcome the Cardinals to Atlanta with a full ballpark! (Click Here)

• Friday is Georgia Institute of Technology Faculty and Staff night! All faculty and staff receive free admission and can purchase guest tickets for only $3 each.

• Saturday is GT Baseball’s inaugural Social Media Game! This game will be themed to replicate the social media landscape that has taken the world by storm. Fans can receive $3 admission at the ticket office by simply proving that they “follow” @GTbaseball on Twitter and “like” GT Baseball on Facebook. (Click Here)

The first 1,000 fans will receive a free GT Baseball Emoji poster! (Click Here)

LEADING OFF

• The three-game ACC series between the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and the Louisville Cardinals will be the first-ever meetings between these two teams on The Flats at Russ Chandler Stadium. All six of their previous meetings have either been in Louisville or at a neutral site.

• This week’s ACC action will showcase not one, but two midseason all-American honorees in Tech’s Joey Bart and Louisville’s Brendan McKay. Both were recognized by both D1Baseball and Perfect Game/Rawlings as midseason all-Americans and were both named to the 2017 Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List this week.

• The Jackets offensively rank third in the ACC on the season in slugging percentage (.485), home runs (46) and home runs per game (1.48).

• Georgia Tech will take on the fourth straight ACC team from the Atlantic Division this week in conference play. After opening up the conference slate with back-to-back series against division foes Miami and North Carolina, the Jackets have played cross-divisional match ups in each of the last three weeks against Wake Forest, Clemson and Notre Dame.

• The No. 2 nationally ranked Louisville Cardinals are the fifth nationally ranked team that the Jackets have played this season. Tech has already played No. 12 Oklahoma, No. 9 North Carolina, No. 16 and No. 7 Auburn, as well as No. 5 Clemson (rankings at the time of the games played).

• The Yellow Jackets have played the Cardinals just six times in the two program’s histories heading into play this week. Louisville leads the all-time series at 5-1.

• Tech ranks seventh in the ACC on the season with an average of 7.0 runs per game. Junior Wade Bailey ranks seventh nationally with an average of 1.26 runs per game on the season. Bailey also ranks seventh in the conference in hits with 48 on the year.

• A total of eight different Yellow Jackets have driven in 14 or more runs this season. Joey Bart leads the team with 32 RBIs, while Kel Johnson is one behind with 31 RBIs on the year.

• Defense has played a key for Tech this season, as the Yellow Jackets are 9-2 on the year when not committing an error for the game. Tech is just 7-13 on the season when making one or more errors for the game.

• Break out the sticks, as both the Jackets and the Cardinals are averaging over 10 hits per game this season entering play this week. Tech is averaging 10.7 hits per outing, while the Cards are averaging 10.4 base knocks per contest this year.

WELCOME TO THE FLATS

• Louisville will be making its first-ever trip to The Flats and Russ Chandler Stadium this week, April 13-15.

• The Cardinals are the fifth team to make their debut in Atlanta and at Russ Chandler Stadium against the Yellow Jackets this season joining BYU, Belmont, Marshall and Oklahoma.

HISTORY WITH THE CARDS

• The Jackets have not fared well against the Louisville Cardinals as of late, as Tech is 0-3 in ACC play versus Louisville and just 1-3 versus the Cardinals since 2008.

• Georgia Tech overall is 1-5 against Louisville on the baseball diamond, going 0-3 in Louisville in 2015 and 1-2 in neutral site contests in 1976, 1977 and 2008.

VERSUS RANKED FOES IN 2017

• Georgia Tech is 4-5 thus far this season against its opponents that were nationally ranked at the time in Oklahoma, North Carolina, Auburn and Clemson.

March 14 vs. No 12 Oklahoma W, 2-0

March 17 vs. No. 9 North Carolina L, 5-6

March 18 vs. No. 9 North Carolina W, 4-2 (12)

March 19 vs. No. 9 North Carolina L, 4-7

March 21 vs. No. 16 Auburn L, 4-7

March 31 vs. No. 5 Clemson L, 6-13

April 1 vs. No. 5 Clemson W, 5-1

April 2 vs. No. 5 Clemson L, 6-11

April 4 at No. 7 Auburn W, 11-8

AGAINST THE ATLANTIC DIVISION

• Each of the last three ACC series for the Yellow Jackets have come against the Coastal Division with games against Wake Forest, Clemson and Notre Dame.

• Tech is 2-7 versus teams from the Coastal Division this season – 1-2 at Wake Forest, 1-2 vs. No. 5 Clemson and 0-3 at Notre Dame.

500 AND COUNTING

• With Tech’s first ACC regular season win of the year on Saturday, Mar. 11, the Yellow Jackets recorded the program’s 500th ACC regular season win.

• The Jackets are 503-364-2 all-time in regular season Atlantic Coast Conference games since entering the league in 1980.

THE NATIONAL TOP-25 GAUNTLET

• Tech has had a very challenging go of it as of late, as the Yellow Jackets have played a total of four nationally top-12 ranked opponents over the last month in No. 12 Oklahoma, No. 9 North Carolina, No. 16 Auburn/No. 7 Auburn and No. 5 Clemson (rankings at the time of the games).

• In fact, nine of the Jackets’ last 17 games have come against top-12 or higher nationally ranked opponents – No. 12 Oklahoma, three versus then No. 9 North Carolina, one at home against No. 16 Auburn, three versus No. 5 Clemson and then at No. 7 Auburn last week.

• The No. 2 Louisville Cardinals will be the fifth nationally ranked top-12 program that the Jackets will have faced in a month.

ON DECK

• Tech will stay at home to host the Mercer Bears in non-conference midweek action on Tuesday, April 18, before hitting the road to face off with the Georgia State Panthers on Wednesday, April 19.

For the latest information on the Georgia Tech baseball team, follow us on Twitter (@GTBaseball), Facebook, Instagram (@gt_baseball ) or visit us at www.ramblinwreck.com.