Feb. 15, 2018
Purchase Tickets | Join the Grand Slam Club | 2018 GT Baseball Information Guide
Friday vs. Minnesota (4 p.m.): GT Game Notes | Minn. Game Notes | Video | Audio | Live Stats
Saturday vs. Bradley (2 p.m.): GT Game Notes | Bradley Game Notes | Video | Audio | Live Stats
Sunday vs. UConn (1 p.m.): GT Game Notes | UConn Game Notes | Video | Audio | Live Stats
THE FLATS – Georgia Tech baseball opens up its 2018 season with the Atlanta Challenge this weekend on The Flats at Russ Chandler Stadium. The Yellow Jackets are scheduled to host a trio of teams for opening weekend in Minnesota on Friday, Bradley on Saturday and Connecticut on Sunday.
Follow The Action Live
* All three games this weekend will be video streamed live on the ACC Network Extra (links are above).
* All three of the non-conference games will also be broadcast live on WREK 91.1 FM radio and online at WREK.org.
* Live stats for each contest can be found above or on the baseball schedule page at RamblinWreck.com.
* Fans can also follow in-game updates on Twitter @GTBaseball.
Saturday Parking
* With a slew of home athletic events on Saturday, Feb. 17, fans attending the baseball game are encouraged to park at Klaus Deck (across from the third base ticket window and Cherry Street). Season parking passes will be honored. Single-game parking will also be available at Klaus Deck for $5.
Keep the Party Going
* Let’s keep the Mardi Gras party going at Russ Chandler Stadium this weekend! Mardi Gras beads will be thrown out all weekend long with the Jackets make a great play on the field, while the concessions will offer king cake all weekend long.
* The marketing department will also give out 50 half-yard cups each day, so make sure to get to the ballpark early to get yours!
Tech Tidbits
* Georgia Tech has been almost unbeatable in home season openers since 1994, head coach Danny Hall’s first season on The Flats. The Yellow Jackets are 23-1 in home openers and have won 12 straight openers at Russ Chandler Stadium. Tech is also 19-5 in season openers under Hall.
* For the third straight season, Georgia Tech opens up its campaign with the Atlanta Challenge, which includes three teams coming to Atlanta to compete against Georgia Tech, Georgia State and Kennesaw State over the opening weekend of play. In fact, the Yellow Jackets are 7-2 overall in season opening tournaments at home since 2014.
* Georgia Tech is a combined 11-3 versus their first three opponents of 2018 in Minnesota, Bradley and Connecticut. Tech is 4-1 all-time versus Minnesota with the last meeting coming back in 1994 and 7-2 overall versus UConn having played them last in 2016. GT and Bradley have never met on the baseball diamond prior to this weekend.
* It is a very eerie coincidence that the Yellow Jackets are opening up the 2018 season, head coach Danny Hall’s 25th season overall on The Flats, at home versus the very same team that Hall coached against in his very first game as the Yellow Jackets’ head coach back in 1994. Coach Hall’s first-ever game as the head coach of Georgia Tech came against the Minnesota Gophers in the season opener at home back on Feb. 11, 1994. It was a 3-1 Georgia Tech win.
* The 2018 season opener at Russ Chandler Stadium will feature two hall of fame coaches in John Anderson of Minnesota and Danny Hall of Georgia Tech. Anderson enters the season ranked fifth among all active Division I baseball coaches with 1,244 career wins. Hall is ranked seventh overall among active coaches with 1,196 career victories.
* Georgia Tech head coach Danny Halls has recorded a total of 988 wins as the skipper of the Yellow Jackets. Entering his 25th season at Tech, Hall is just 12 wins shy of recording his 1,000th win the White and Gold.
* Georgia Tech is looking to bounce back after an anomaly of a season last year in which the Yellow Jackets finished the season under .500 at 27-28. Last season was the first losing season for Tech since 1981 and the first-ever in head coach Danny Hall’s 30 seasons as a head coach.
* Tech was picked to finish fifth in the ACC Coastal Division in the 2018 ACC Coaches Preseason Poll. The Yellow Jackets received 46 votes and were picked ahead of both Virginia Tech (27) and Pitt (18).
* The Yellow Jackets return 22 letterwinners from last season, including seven position starters and four starting pitchers. Tech also has a total of 13 newcomers on the roster this season.
* GT is led by key returners in Joey Bart, Wade Bailey, Jared Datoc, Kel Johnson, Tristin English and Austin Wilhite. Bart is a consensus preseason all-American, while Bailey was a two-time preseason all-American. Datoc was named to the NCBWA 2018 Stopper of the Year preseason watch list, while Johnson, English and Austin are all returning all-conference and all-Americans from 2016 and 2015.
On Deck
* Georgia Tech will hit the road for a midweek contest on Tuesday, Feb. 20, at Georgia Southern. The game is set for a 6 p.m. start time in Statesboro, Ga.
* The Yellow Jackets will then return home to host Dartmouth in a three-game non-conference weekend series on Feb. 23-25.
