March 7, 2016
| GAME 12: #9 GEORGIA TECH AT AUBURN Tuesday, March 8 // Samford Stadium-Hitchcock Field at Plainsman Park // Auburn, Ala. First Pitch: 5:30 p.m. // TV: SEC Network // Radio: WREK 91.1 FM |
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| GEORGIA TECH YELLOW JACKETS (11-0) Last Game: W, 4-3 vs. Western Carolina (March 6) 2016 Road Record: 1-0 Midweek Record: 2-0 Head Coach: Danny Hall (Miami – Ohio, 1977) Career Record: 1,142-569-1 (29th year) Tuesday SP: RHP Cole Pitts (0-0, 6.00 ERA, 9 K, 2 BB) |
AUBURN TIGERS (6-6) Last Game: L, 1-3 vs. Southern Miss (March 6) 2016 Home Record: 6-3 Midweek Record: 3-0 Head Coach: Butch Thompson (Birmingham-Southern, 1992) Career Record: 45-18 (2nd year) Tuesday SP: LHP Andrew Mitchell (2-0, 2.25 ERA, 11 K, 8 BB) |
| Games Notes // 2016 Information Guide // @GTBaseball on Twitter // Listen Live |
LEADING OFF: STORYLINES TO KNOW
- Georgia Tech (11-0) is one of only two undefeated teams remaining in NCAA Division I college baseball (Gardner-Webb, 13-0).
- Tech has won five straight nonconference road games dating back to the 2015 season. The Jackets’ last nonconference road loss? Feb. 24, 2015, at Auburn.
- Georgia Tech leads the nation with 21 double plays turned. Middle infielders Wade Bailey (2B) and Connor Justus (SS) have been a part of 11 of the 21 double plays.
- The Yellow Jackets enter this week ranked in five of the six NCAA Division I college baseball polls.
- The Jackets have scored 34 total runs in the fourth (17) and eighth innings this season (17), while allowing two total runs in those frames. 40% of Tech’s offensive production has come in those innings.
- Tech’s seven-man freshman pitching rotation is 6-0 with 1.26 ERA, allowing only eight earned runs in 57.0 innings. In three starts, freshman RHP Jonathan Hughes is 3-0 with a 0.50 ERA, allowing one earned run in 18.0 innings.
- Junior catcher Arden Pabst has thrown out 41 baserunners in three seasons behind the plate, throwing out runners 43 percent of the time.
- Auburn is the Jackets’ second-most played baseball rivalry. Tuesday will be the 231st meeting between the former SEC rivals.
- Georgia Tech is 17-4 in its last 21 midweek games, dating back to the final seven midweek contests of the 2014 season. Tech has defeated Georgia Southern and Georgia State in midweek games this season.
- Georgia Tech has used 11 different lineups to start the 2016 season. Only 2B Wade Bailey and SS Connor Justus have started every game at the same position.
SERIES HISTORY
• Auburn leads 119-106-5
• Streak: Georgia Tech, 1 win
• GT at Auburn: Georgia Tech trails 40-64-2
• Last Meeting: March 24, 2015 (W, 4-1)
• Danny Hall vs. Auburn: 7-6
• GT in Last 5 Meetings: 3-2
• GT in Last 10 Meetings: 6-4
A TECH WIN WOULD…
• Give the Yellow Jackets’ their first 12-0 start since 2006 (started 16-0).
• Extend the Jackets’ win streak to 12 games, their longest since 2011 (won 16 straight March 4-27).
• Be the Jackets’ sixth straight nonconference road win.
• Be the Jackets’ first win at Auburn since 2005.
• Be the Jackets’ 107th win in the series, dating back to 1897.
• Be head coach Danny Hall’s 1,143rd career victory and 935th at Georgia Tech.
• Improve Tech’s record to 298-100 all-time in the month of March under Danny Hall.
MIDWEEK SUCCESS
• Georgia Tech is 17-4 (.810) in its last 21 midweek games, dating back to the final seven midweek contests of the 2014 season. Tech, which has defeated Georgia Southern and Georgia State in midweek games, was 9-3 in such games in 2015.
• Since going 7-7 in midweek games in 2011, the Yellow Jackets are 38-17 (.691) in midweek contests.
UNDER PARR
• Junior LHP Ben Parr (3-0) is tied for the team lead in pitching victories with three in six appearances. Parr has come on in middle relief to keep opposing batters to two earned runs and a .219 batting average.
THE RULE OF 4’S
• Through the season’s first 11 games, Georgia Tech’s offensive production, which is averaging 7.8 runs per game, seems to heat up the fourth and eighth innings.
• The Jackets have scored 34 of their 84 runs in the fourth and eighth innings (17 in each), while allowing only two total runs in both frames.
• Tech has scored 49 total runs in the other seven regulation innings and three more in extra innings.
THEY ARE MERELY FRESHMEN
• Georgia Tech’s seven-man freshman pitching rotation continues to impress through the season’s first three weeks. Tech’s freshmen arms have accounted for six of the Jackets’ 11 wins this season.
• Tech’s rookie septet of Jonathan Hughes (3-0, 0.50 ERA), Burton Dulaney (1-0, 3.60 ERA), Jake Lee (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 Sv), Keyton Gibson (1-0, 3.38 ERA), Bobby Gauvreau (0-0, 0.00 ERA), Micah Carpenter (0-0, 0.00 ERA) and Robert Winborne (0-0, 0.00 ERA) are a combined 6-0 with a 1.26 ERA. The group has allowed only eight earned runs in 57.0 innings.
THE CLOSER
• Junior Matthew Gorst has tripled his career saves output in 2016. Gorst has recorded three of Tech’s four save opportunities. Gorst owns a 1.12 ERA, allowing one earned run and just eight baserunners with 13 strikeouts in 8.0 innings.
• Gorst owns nearly a 7:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio (13 K, 2 BB) this season. He had a career 1:1 ratio (48 K, 48 BB) in his first two seasons with the Yellow Jackets.
TRIPLE VISION
• Junior SS Connor Justus ran his way into the Georgia Tech record books during Saturday’s 14-3 win over Western Carolina. Against the Catamounts, Justus managed to rip off a school-record-tying two triples – the Jackets’ first two triples of 2016.
• Justus became the 17th Georgia Tech player to record two triples in a game, and the first Tech player since Kyle Wren vs. Kent State in 2012.
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