May 5, 2003
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ATLANTA–Georgia Tech, ranked 11th in the nation by Collegiate Baseball, faces a pair of in-state foes this week as the Yellow Jackets visit Georgia State on Tuesday at 7 p.m. and host Savannah State on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Tech will travel to Virginia for a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series this weekend.
This Week’s Coverage: Tuesday’s game will be televised regionally by Comcast Sports Southeast (cable channel 45 in Atlanta), and there will be no radio coverage. A radio broadcast for Wednesday’s game will be available on WREK-Radio (91.1 FM in Atlanta). Live statistics for both games will be available on the internet at www.ramblinwreck.com.
GEORGIA TECH UPDATE (33-13, 12-6 ACC)
Georgia Tech dropped two of three games to Florida State last weekend to fall out of a tie for first place in the ACC standings. Florida State currently leads the league with a 13-5 record, while Tech (12-6) and NC State (14-7) are tied by percentage points for second place. The Yellow Jackets finish the regular season at Virginia and at home against NC State over the next two weekends.
Tech has belted 65 home runs this season (averaging 1.41 per game after hitting 0.97 per game in 2002). The Yellow Jackets have raised the team average over .300 after hitting .277 through the first 19 games of the season. Tech’s 17-0 start to the season eclipsed the previous school record of a 16-0 start in 1987.
Sophomore RHP Kyle Schmidt (1-1, 3.00) will make his second start of the season on Tuesday night at Georgia State. Wednesday’s starter is TBA.
GEORGIA STATE UPDATE (22-24, 13-14 ATLANTIC SUN)
Georgia State is 22-24 overall and 13-14 in the Atlantic Sun Conference after dropping two of three games to Belmont last weekend. The Panthers are batting .284 as a team and own a team ERA of 5.56. Junior LHP Justin Meyer (0-1, 4.81) is the scheduled starter on Tuesday night in Panthersville.
GEORGIA TECH VS. GEORGIA STATE; TECH LEADS 42-5
Georgia Tech leads Georgia State, 42-5, in a series that dates to 1971. The Yellow Jackets hold a 16-4 edge in games played on the Panthers’ home field.
The Yellow Jackets have won 20 of the last 21 meetings between the two schools, with the Panthers’ lone win coming with a 4-3 decision in Panthersville during the 2000 season. Tech has scored at least 11 runs in each of the last six games against Georgia State.
Earlier this season at Russ Chandler Stadium, Tech took an 11-3 decision behind three hits, a home run and 3 RBI from both Mike Nickeas and Micah Owings. Chris Goodman pitched six shutout innings in that game.
Last year at Russ Chandler Stadium, Tech won 12-4 behind a home run and four RBI from Jeremy Slayden as the Yellow Jacket s scored nine runs in the fourth inning. Tech took an 11-7 decision in Panthersville, including a homer and 3 RBI fom Slayden, as the Yellow Jackets used eight pitchers in the game.
Georgia Tech is 19-1 against Georgia State under head coach Danny Hall.
GEORGIA TECH VS. SAVANNAH STATE; FIRST MEETING
STARTING PITCHER NOTES
Tuesday: KYLE SCHMIDT (RHP) 1-1, 3.00 ERA
Sophomore Kyle Schmidt is the scheduled starter on Tuesday at Georgia State, and he will be making his second start of the 2003 season and the 13th start of his Georgia Tech career.
After working 71.2 innings as a freshman, Schmidt is 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA in just 12 innings this spring. He has been limited to just six appearances after battling tendinitis in his right arm.
Schmidt made his first start of the season on Feb. 23 against Armstrong Atlantic State in a tournament in Savannah. He earned his first win of the season in that game after working five innings and allowing two runs. The righty worked three innings in his first appearance of the year on Feb. 19 at Mercer, but he has been limited to just four innings over four appearances since March 1. Schmidt has made relief appearances in each of the last two ACC weekend series (vs. Clemson and Florida State).
PITCHING STRUGGLES AFTER THREE-WEEK HOT STRETCH
Prior to the last two weekends against Clemson and Florida State, Georgia Tech won eight of nine games from North Carolina, Duke and Wake Forest behind strong performances from the starting rotation of LHP Kyle Bakker and RHP’s Chris Goodman and Micah Owings. Over that nine game stretch, the starting rotation went a combined 7-0 with a 2.53 ERA in eight starts. In the Yellow Jackets’ three game sweep of Wake Forest, the staff posted a 2.00 ERA and held the Deacon bats to a .214 team average.
The Tech staff has had its hot streak come to an end over the last two weekends, allowing 45 earned runs in 53.2 innings over the last six games (7.55 ERA) against Clemson and FSU. More telling, Tech pitchers have walked 28 batters in the last six games (4.7 BB per 9 IP) after walking just 16 batters in nine games against UNC, Duke and Wake Forest (1.8 BB per 9 IP).
VERSUS THE STATE OF GEORGIA
Georgia Tech is 7-2 against teams from the state of Georgia in 2003, and Tech posted a 13-1 mark against its in-state rivals during the 2002 season. Tech is 3-1 against Georgia Southern, 2-0 against Mercer, 1-0 against Armstrong Atlantic State and Georgia State, and 0-1 against Georgia this year.
Since 1999, Georgia Tech owns a 49-10 (.831) record against its in-state foes. The Yellow Jackets are 91-27 (.771) against teams from Georgia in 10 years under head coach Danny Hall.
