March 21, 2016
| GAME 20: #21 GEORGIA TECH at KENNESAW STATE Tuesday, March 22 // Stillwell Stadium // Kennesaw, Ga. First Pitch: 6 p.m. // TV: ESPN3 // Radio: WREK 91.1 FM |
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| GEORGIA TECH YELLOW JACKETS (15-4) Last Game: W, 16-8 vs. Virginia Tech (March 20) 2016 Road Record: 2-3 2016 Midweek Record: 3-1 Head Coach: Danny Hall (Miami – Ohio, 1977) Career Record: 1,146-573-1 (29th year) Tuesday SP: RHP Cole Pitts (1-1, 6.43 ERA, 16 K, 4 BB) |
KENNESAW STATE (7-13) Last Game: L, 5-11 at Mercer (March 20) 2016 Home Record: 6-9 2016 Midweek Record: 1-4 Head Coach: Mike Sansing (West Georgia, 1985) Career Record: 1,022-560 (28th year) Tuesday SP: RHP Tony Dibrell (0-1, 4.50 ERA, 28 K, 6 BB) |
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LEADING OFF: STORYLINES TO KNOW
- Senior 3B/LF Matt Gonzalez is the NCAA active career leader in both hits (239) and sacrifice flies (18).
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Junior catcher Arden Pabst has thrown out 41 baserunners in three seasons behind the plate, throwing out runners 43 percent of the time.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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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