March 13, 2003
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Georgia Tech, the nation’s top-ranked team according to Baseball America, puts its 15-game winning streak on the line when the Yellow Jackets host Kent State for a three-game series this weekend at Russ Chandler Stadium. The series begins on Friday at 4 p.m., and continues on Saturday and Sunday at 1:30 p.m. each day. Live radio coverage will be available on WREK-Radio (91.1 FM in Atlanta) and on the internet at www.wrek.org. Live statistics for the game will be available on the internet at www.ramblinwreck.com.
GEORGIA TECH UPDATE (15-0, 0-0 ACC)
Georgia Tech is off to a 15-0 start after posting a 4-2 win at 10th-ranked Auburn on Tuesday night at Plainsman Park. Tech’s 15-0 start is the second best mark to open a season, and the Yellow Jackets set a school record with a 16-0 start in 1987.
Tech’s early success is largely due to the outstanding performances of its pitching staff. The unit has posted a 2.51 ERA in 15 games, and is holding its opponents to a .221 batting average. LHP Kyle Bakker (4-0, 3.13) is the ace of the Tech staff, while the bullpen has combined for a 2.21 ERA in 57 innings, holding opposing hitters to a .211 batting average. Tech pitchers have walked just 39 batters in 136 innings of work (2.58 walks per nine innings).
Offensively, the Yellow Jackets are hitting .276 as a team through the first 15 games of the season but they are averaging 7.6 runs per game due to some timely hitting and 28 home runs in 15 games (averaging 1.87 per game after hitting 0.97 home runs per game in 2002). The team has been led by 1B Clifton Remole (.422-0-7), SS Tyler Greene (.352-5-15) and C Mike Nickeas (.308-3-16). Seven Tech players have hit at least two home runs thus far this season.
KENT STATE UPDATE (6-3, 0-0 MAC)
Kent State is off to a 6-3 start in 2003, playing all nine games away from home, and the Golden Flashes won two of three games at Virginia Tech last weekend. The Golden Flashes are batting .273 as a team and own a team ERA of 5.00. Senior RHP Dirk Hayhurst (1-0, 1.64) is the scheduled starter in the series opener on Friday, while junior RHP Matt Lorenzo (3-0, 2.61), a Georgia Tech transfer following the 2001 season, is the scheduled starter on Saturday afternoon. Sunday’s starter is TBA.
QUOTING DANNY HALL
ON TECH’S 15-0 START IN 2003:
“The interesting thing is that we have found different ways to win. When we have had to really pitch good we have been able to do that. And when our pitching hasn’t been as good as we would have liked, we have found ways to win games offensively. We have to keep working at all areas, but the encouraging thing is that we have found different ways to win. To have a good season you have to have that type effort. The interesting thing is that is has been a number of different guys stepping up to help us win games.”
ON TECH’S IMPROVEMENT OFFENSIVELY AFTER A SLOW START:
“We have worked very hard to get some of those guys going. Eric Patterson looks like he is back and Matt Murton has swung it well. We have seen flashes from Brandon Boggs and Jeremy Slayden. I feel like we are going to be a good offensive club, and I thought over the weekend against Rutgers we were better at it.”
ON THE SERIES WITH KENT STATE THIS WEEKEND IN ATLANTA:
“They have been a very consistent program and they have been in the NCAA Tournament with regularity the last couple of years. They have some outstanding pitchers and some outstanding veteran pitchers. It is not easy to go to Blacksburg and win a series at Virginia Tech like they did last weekend, and that really caught my eye. I know that they are an outstanding club and we will need to be ready to play.”
STARTING PITCHER NOTES
Friday: KYLE BAKKER (LHP) 4-0, 3.13 ERA
Junior Kyle Bakker will start on Friday in the first game of the Kent State series, and he will be making his fifth start of the season and the 29th start of his collegiate career.
Bakker is 4-0 with a 3.13 ERA in 2003 after earning wins over Georgia Southern, Rider, George Washington and Kent State in his first four starts of the season. For his career, Bakker stands at 21-3 with a 3.16 ERA in 203 innings pitched. Bakker currently ranks as the top command pitcher in school history, allowing just 1.68 walks per nine innings.
Bakker enters Friday’s game having won eight consecutive decisions, and he has not suffered a defeat since April 26, 2002 against Virginia.
After two dominant performances in his first two starts, Bakker has labored in his last two starts. He has earned wins in each of his two most recent starts, but he has allowed seven runs in 11 innings (5.73 ERA).
A preseason All-America in 2003, Bakker earned second team All-America honors in 2002 after earning Freshman All-America honors in 2001. The 6-9 lefty spent the summer of 2002 with the USA Baseball National team, and he posted a 3-2 record and a 2.14 ERA in six starts.
Saturday: AARON WALKER (LHP) 1-0, 1.23 ERA
Junior Aaron Walker will make his first career start on Saturday in the second game of the Kent State series after making 40 appearances out of the bullpen since 2001. Walker is 1-0 with a 1.23 ERA in 7.1 innings (six appearances) in 2003.
Walker is coming off his longest and best appearance of the season last Sunday against Rutgers where he worked three scoreless innings to close out the game and earn his first win of the season.
Walker’s longest career outing was a 4.1 inning relief stint at Wake Forest last season where allowed two earned runs. He worked four innings in relief against Florida State in the 2002 ACC Tournament, allowing one run on two hits.
Sunday’s starter is TBA.
GEORGIA TECH VS. KENT STATE
GEORGIA TECH LEADS, 8-2
Georgia Tech leads Kent State, 8-2, in a series that dates to 1984. All 10 games in the series have been played in Atlanta. Most recently, the Yellow Jackets swept a three-game series from the Golden Flashes in 2001. Tech won two of three from Kent State in both 1999 and 1996.
Georgia Tech is 9-2 against Kent State under head coach Danny Hall.
PITCHING SHINES IN EARLY GAMES, HITTING SHOWS IMPROVEMENT
Georgia Tech’s 15-0 start to the 2003 season is due largely to the success of the Yellow Jacket pitching staff. The unit, which has seen 12 different players take the mound thus far, has combined for a 2.51 ERA in 136 innings. Tech pitchers are holding opponents to a .221 batting average. More impressively, the staff has walked just 39 batters in 15 games, holding opponents to a .290 on base percentage. The Tech bullpen has been especially effective through the first three weeks of the season, posting a 2.21 ERA in 57 innings.
However as impressive as the pitching staff has been, the Tech offense sputtered to start the 2003 season. The Yellow Jackets hit just .263 as a team through the first 11 games of the season before breaking out for 38 hits in three games against Rutgers last weekend to raise the team average nearly 20 points.
Tech’s current .276 average is still a relatively low number considering the Yellow Jackets hit .330 in 2002, .347 in 2001 and .342 in 2000. In fact, Tech has never hit lower than .306 as a team since Danny Hall became the school’s head coach in 1994, and the Yellow Jackets have hit better than .320 as a team in seven of his nine years at the helm of the program.
GEORGIA TECH – KENT STATE CONNECTIONS
Georgia Tech head coach Danny Hall spent six seasons (1988-93) as the head coach at Kent State before coming to Georgia Tech for the 1994 season. Hall went 208-117 (.640) with the Golden Flashes, leading the team to consecutive MAC Championships and NCAA Regional appearances in his final two seasons and was named MAC Coach of the Year in 1992 and 1993.
Current Kent State head coach Rick Rembielak was an assistant for Hall at Kent State and assumed the head job when Hall came to Atlanta.
Kent State junior pitcher Matt Lorenzo played at Georgia Tech as a freshman in 2001, posting a 4-0 record and a 2.82 ERA in 12 appearances including two starts (38.1 innings). A native of Hartville, Ohio, Lorenzo transferred to Kent State following the 2001 season to be closer to his home.
Kent State has two players on its roster who are the younger brothers of former Georgia Tech players. Junior outfielder Adam Crowder is the younger brother of former Tech All-America pitcher Chuck Crowder, and freshman outfielder Thomas Goffena is the younger brother of former Tech first baseman/outfielder Derik Goffena.
HOME RUNS COMING AT BLISTERING PACE
Georgia Tech has hit 28 home runs as a team in 15 games in 2003, averaging 1.87 home runs per game. Last season Tech hit 66 home runs in 68 games (0.97 home runs per game). The school record for home runs is 119, which was accomplished in 65 games during the 1987 season (1.83 per game).
Listed below are Tech’s home run totals since the NCAA adopted the current bat rules for the 1999 season.
GEORGIA TECH'S YEARLY HOME RUN TOTALSYear Games HR HR per game1999 58 65 1.122000 66 79 1.202001 61 74 1.212002 68 66 0.972003 15 28 1.87
HOME, SWEET HOME
Georgia Tech has had great success at home in the history of Russ Chandler Stadium, winning better than 80% of its home games since the facility first opened in 1985. The Yellow Jackets are 8-0 at home in 2003.
Tech has been especially formidable at Russ Chandler Stadium over the last two seasons since the facility was torn down and rebuilt at a cost of $9.7 million. The Yellow Jackets won their first 22 games in their new ballpark in 2002, and Tech is 44-4 (.917) in the new Russ Chandler Stadium.
The Yellow Jackets are on a current 13-game home winning streak dating back to last season.
MURTON LOVES SUNDAYS
All Georgia Tech hitters have “theme music” that is played prior to their at bats, and some music has become extremely popular. Junior outfielder Matt Murton has special theme music that is played only on Sunday’s, entitled “My Life is in You Lord,” a song that has become a favorite of teammates and fans.
Murton’s praise music has “inspired” him to some great performances on Sunday’s at Russ Chandler Stadium. In two Sunday games this year, Murton is batting .714 (5-for-7) with two home runs and four RBI. In 11 Sunday games since first using the music last season, Murton is batting .463 (19-for-41) with five HR and 24 RBI.
EXTRA-INNING WIN STREAK DATES TO 1997
With Georgia Tech’s 6-5, 10-inning win over Rutgers on Mar. 8, the Yellow Jackets have now won 11 consecutive extra inning games dating back to the 1997 season. Tech’s last loss in extra innings was a 10-9 loss to Florida State on April 18, 1997.
SECOND BEST START IN SCHOOL HISTORY
Georgia Tech’s 15-0 record to open 2003 stands as the second best mark to open a season in school history. The Yellow Jackets set a school record with a 16-game winning streak to open the 1987 season. Listed below are Tech’s best records to open a season:
Best Starts to Open a SeasonYear Start Final Record1987 16-0 51-142003 15-0 ???1985 11-0 42-19-11946 10-0 10-2
LONGEST WINNING STREAKS
Georgia Tech’s current 15-game winning streak is tied for the fourth longest streak in school history, and it is the 25th winning streak in school history of 10 or more games. Listed below are Georgia Tech’s all-time longest winning streaks:
LONGEST GEORGIA TECH WINNING STREAKSYear Streak Final Record1990 20 games 46-251992 18 games 45-191987 16 games 51-142000 15 games 50-162003 15 games ???
