Hot-Hitting No. 21 Baseball Faces Kennesaw State

March 21, 2016

LEADING OFF: STORYLINES TO KNOW

1. Senior 3B/LF Matt Gonzalez is the NCAA active career leader in both hits (239) and sacrifice flies (18).
2. Senior RHP Cole Pitts (1-1) will make his fourth career start vs. Kennesaw State. Pitts is 2-0 with a 0.82 ERA and 13 strikeouts in three career starts vs. the Owls.
3. Through 19 games, Georgia Tech leads the nation in both double plays turned (35) and double plays per game (1.84). Since 2012, the Yellow Jackets have turned 284 double plays – the second-highest total nationally during that span.
4. In his last eight games, freshman C/DH Joey Bart is batting .419 with a team-best five doubles and 11 RBI. Bart ranks second on the team with a .405 average.
5. Georgia Tech enters with an eight-game road winning streak in the state of Georgia. Tech went 5-0 in true road games in 2015 at Georgia schools.
6. Junior catcher Arden Pabst has thrown out 41 baserunners in three seasons behind the plate, throwing out runners 43 percent of the time.
7. Matthew Gorst has recorded four of Tech’s six saves. Gorst owns a 0.77 ERA, allowing one earned run and just nine baserunners with 18 strikeouts in 11.2 innings.
8. Georgia Tech has used 18 different lineups this season. Only 2B Wade Bailey and SS Connor Justus have started every game at the same position.
9. Georgia Tech freshmen pitchers have accounted for 8 of the Jackets’ 15 wins this season. Tech’s eight freshmen are 8-2 with a 3.42 ERA and 69 K’s in 92.0 IP.
10. Sophomore RF Kel Johnson is currently on a career-best 14-game hitting streak. Seven of his eight doubles this season have come during his current hit streak.

SERIES HISTORY
• Georgia Tech leads 17-6
• Streak: Kennesaw State, 1 win
• Record at KSU: 5-3
• Last Meeting: April 21, 2015 (L, 6-11)
• Danny Hall vs. KSU: 16-5
• GT in Last 5 Meetings: 3-2
• GT in Last 10 Meetings: 7-3

A TECH WIN TUESDAY WOULD…
• Extend the Yellow Jackets’ Georgia road winning streak to nine games
• Extend the Jackets’ current win streak to four games
• Improve the Jackets’ series record to 18-6 vs. Kennesaw State
• Improve Georgia Tech’s midweek record to 4-1 this season
• Improve Tech’s record to 149-53 against in-state rivals since 1999
• Be Tech’s 11th win in its last 13 games against in-state foes
• Be Tech’s 31st win in its last 37 nonconference games (11-1 in 2016, 19-5 in 2015)
• Be head coach Danny Hall’s 1,147th career victory

DOUBLE TROUBLE
• Through 19 games, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets lead Division I in both double plays (35) and double plays per game (1.84). Tech is the only team in Division I with more than 25 double plays turned this season.
• On the offensive side, the Jackets ranked 3rd nationally in doubles per game (2.68) and 5th in doubles (51). Tech leads the ACC in both categories.

(PEACH STATE) ROAD WARRIORS
• Georgia Tech enters Tuesday’s contest at Kennesaw State riding an eight-game road winning streak in the state of Georgia. Tech went 5-0 in true road games in 2015 at Georgia schools, picking up wins at Georgia Southern, Kennesaw State, Georgia, Georgia State and Mercer.
• The Yellow Jackets’ current streak began with back-to-back road wins at Kennesaw State and Georgia State in 2014.

HOMEGROWN SUCCESS
• Head coach Danny Hall has had a history of building a wall around the Peach State and keeping the best prep talent close to home.
• 32 of this year’s 35-member opening weekend roster (91%) hail from the state of Georgia, which is home to some of the best high school baseball talent in the nation. Every freshman in this year’s class hails from Georgia.
• Since 1999, the Yellow Jackets own a 148-53 (.736) record against their in-state foes. In 23 years under Hall, Tech is 192-70 (.733) against teams from Georgia.
• Georgia Tech is 10-2 in its last 12 games against in-state rivals.

STREAKIN’
• Sophomore RF Kel Johnson is currently on a career-best 14-game hitting streak. Johnson’s streak began Feb. 26 vs. UMBC with a 1-for-4 performance. His streak includes four multi-hit games, including a career-best four hits on March 4 vs. Western Carolina and two hits in three other games.
• Seven of Johnson’s eight doubles this season have come during his current hit streak.
• On Sunday vs. Virginia Tech, Johnson hit his second career grand slam and recorded a career-best 5 RBI.

CH-CH-CHANGES
• Georgia Tech has used 18 different lineups to open the 2016 season. During Sunday’s 16-8 win over Virginia Tech, the Yellow Jackets went with a repeat lineup for the first time this season.
• Only three players have started every game for the Jackets – Wade Bailey, Connor Justus and Matt Gonzalez. Bailey and Justus are the only players to start in the same position in all 19 games.

BAPTISM BY FIRE
• Georgia Tech’s freshmen pitchers have played an important role in the Yellow Jackets’ 15-4 start. Tech’s eight freshmen hurlers – Micah Carpenter (1-0, 2.89 ERA), Bailey Combs (0-0, 0.00 ERA), Burton Dulaney (1-1, 1 Sv, 2.45 ERA), Bobby Gauvreau (0-0, 10.12 ERA), Keyton Gibson (2-0, 1.98 ERA), Jonathan Hughes (3-1, 2.45 ERA), Jake Lee (1-0, 1 Sv, 7.20 ERA), and Robert Winborne (0-0, 0.00 ERA) – have accounted for eight of Tech’s 15 wins.
• Tech’s eight freshmen are a combined 8-2 with a 3.42 ERA in 92.0 innings, while the rest of Tech’s pitching staff is 7-2 with a 3.25 ERA in 83.0 innings.

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