Feb. 28, 2012
No. 12 Georgia Tech (6-2) vs. Kennesaw State(3-4) Game 9 Tuesday,Feb. 29, 4 p.m. Location Atlanta, Ga. |Russ ChandlerStadium | Weather Radio WRECKRadio Gametracker RamblinWreck.com Webcast RamblinWreck All-Access Game Info GameNotes | 2012 MediaGuide | Facebook | Twitter
#BUZZWORTHY
>> In a game moved twice due to impending weather, No. 12 Georgia Tech is scheduled to host Kennesaw State Wednesday at 4 p.m. at Russ Chandler Stadium.
>> The game can be heard live on WREK Radio, 91.1 FM in Atlanta, with a live video stream available at RamblinWreck.com.
>> Following Wednesday’s game, the Yellow Jackets wrap up their seven-game home stand this weekend with a series versus Rutgers at Russ Chandler Stadium.
>> Tech is 12-4 all-time versus Kennesaw State, including a 10-1 mark in games played in Atlanta. The teams have split two-game series in each of the last two seasons.
>> Georgia Tech head coach Danny Hall, who enters the KSU game just seven wins shy of the 1,000th in his 25-year career, signed a new five-year contract through the 2016 season last week.
>> Tech hit .331 as a team, slugged .528 with a .455 on-base percentage in going 3-1 last week. The Jackets picked up a road win at No. 30 Georgia Southern, 11-9, and out-scored Ohio State 28-13 over the weekend.
>> Sophomore Daniel Palka, who hit .375 (6-for-16) with three doubles, a homer and five RBI last week, carries a team-best seven-game hitting streak into the KSU game. Palka, Kyle Wren and Brandon Thomas have reached base safely in every game this season.
A MODEL OF SUCCESS
>> With an appearance in the 2011 NCAA Atlanta Regional, Georgia Tech returned to the NCAA Tournament for the 25th time in the last 27 years. The Yellow Jackets have played in the NCAA Tournament every year since 1985 with the exception of the 1999 and 2007 seasons, and made its 27th overall postseason appearance in history last year.
>> Since 2002, Georgia Tech has appeared in nine NCAA Regionals, three NCAA Super Regionals and two College World Series (2002 and 2006).
>> Prior to its recent streak, Georgia Tech had participated in the NCAA playoff just twice, in 1959 and 1971, with an additional play-in tournament appearance in 1948.
>> Georgia Tech made its first trip to the College World Series in 1994, advancing to the championship game before falling to Oklahoma, 13-5.
>> Under Danny Hall, Tech is averaging 43.3 wins per season, a figure that ranks 10th nationally since the 1994 season.
THE KENNESAW STATE SERIES
>> Georgia Tech leads Kennesaw State 12-4 in a series that dates back to 1987.
>> The teams have split the last two season series, with the Yellow Jackets winning in Atlanta and falling in Kennesaw.
>> All-time, Tech is 10-1 at home against the Owls with the lone home loss coming in 1989.
SCOUTING THE OWLS
>> The Owls visit the “Rusty C” on Wednesday for the first of a two-game season series. Tech travels to Kennesaw State on April 3rd at 6 p.m.
>> KSU is 3-4 overall and dropped the final two games of a series at Memphis last weekend.
>> Senior INF Andy Chriscaden paces the Owl offense, hitting .310 with three doubles, a homer, three RBI and five runs.
>> Under Mike Sansing, in his 24th season as a head coach and 21st at KSU, the Owls were 32-25 in 2011 and 18-11 in the Atlantic Sun.
NATIONAL POLL UPDATE
>> Georgia Tech remains highly-ranked in the major college baseball national polls this week, sitting at No. 9 in the NCBWA Poll, No. 10 in Baseball America, No. 11 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll and No. 12 Collegiate Baseball.
>> Georgia Tech was ranked as high as No. 9 in the 2012 preseason polls and the Yellow Jackets have been ranked every year in the preseason under Danny Hall.
PRESEASON ACC COACHES POLL
>> Georgia Tech was picked second in the Coastal Division behind North Carolina, in the preseason poll of the league’s 12 head coaches.
>> UNC was also the pick as the overall conference championship, with the Yellow Jackets second.
CLOSING ON MAJOR MILESTONE
>> Having spent his entire coaching career involved with winning programs, Danny Hall’s tenure at Georgia Tech has been his most successful, as he is the all-time winningest baseball coach in Yellow Jacket history with 783 victories at the school.
>> Now in his 19th season on the Flats, Hall is just seven victories shy of becoming the 46th Division-I baseball coach all-time to reach 1,000 career wins.
>> Entering 2012, he was ranked 13th among active Division-I coaches in winning percentage (.679), and is 16th among active D-I coaches in number of victories (987).
>> Hall has led Tech to the NCAA Tournament on 16 occasions and guided the Yellow Jackets to the College World Series in 1994, 2002 and 2006, the only head coach in the program’s storied history to reach the promised land of Omaha.
>> Hall, 57, is 993-468-1 as a head coach, including six seasons at Kent State. At Tech, Hall’s record is 785-351-1.
DAVIES DELIVERS
>> Thanks in part to the bat of senior Jake Davies, the Tech offense hit .331, slugged .529 and posted a .455 on-base percentage in going 3-1 last week.
>> Davies enjoyed one of his better weeks as a Jacket, going 6-for-13 (.462), slugging .923, with three doubles, a home run and leading the club with seven RBI.
>> His three-run home run in Sunday’s 13-4 win against Ohio State was the eventual game-winner and he scored the eventual winning run in Friday’s 12-4 victory over the Buckeyes.
>> Davies set a career high with four RBI Sunday versus the Buckeye and matched his career high of three runs.
>> Tech is 7-0 all-time in games that Davies hits a home run.
ARMS RACE
>> Junior RHP Buck Farmer is coming off a career-best 13 strikeout performance in last Friday’s 12-4 win over Ohio State and currently leads the ACC with 22 punchouts. Farmer fanned half the 26 batters he faced in six innings of work to get his first win. He is 1-1 with a 3.75 ERA in 12.0 innings.
>> Sophomore righty Dusty Isaacs has logged back-to-back quality starts and is 2-0 with a 2.84 ERA.
>> Grimes was brilliant on Opening Day and got Tech its first win, firing a career-long seven shutout innings and allowing just one hit with seven Ks in the 5-0 win over Winthrop.
>> Rookie righty Cole Pitts (1-0, 4.91 ERA, 10 K in 7.1 IP) is slated for his second career start versus Kennesaw State.
>> With impressive relief appearances from rookie RHP Josh Heddinger, sophomore RHP Zane Evans and junior closer Luke Bard, the Yellow Jacket bullpen has 38 strikeouts in 31.2 innings and a 2.56 ERA.
MIDDLE INNINGS MAGIC
>> Georgia Tech is out-scoring the opposition 29-10 in the third, fourth and fifth innings this season — that includes a 7-0 margin in the fifth inning.
DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE
>> Georgia Tech turned a double play in each of the first four innings during last Saturday’s 7-3 setback versus Ohio State. It marked the first time Tech turned four double plays in a game since Feb. 27, 2007 vs. Western Carolina at Russ Chandler Stadium — a 10-7 loss to WCU.
BALANCING ACT
>> Tech displayed balance offensively over its 6-2 start, getting at least five hits from nine different players and seeing 13 players score the team’s 55 runs.
>> Eight different players have collected 3+ RBI, with a team-high eight each from Jake Davies and Zane Evans.
>> Five players are hitting above a .300-clip, with Sam Dove leading the way at .370 (10-for-27).
>> Ninteen doubles have come from 11 different Jackets, with four coming from Daniel Palka.
>> Eight different players have swiped 12 bases, led by Brandon Thomas’ 3-for-3
JACKETS CRACK PRESEASON TOP 25 FOR 19TH TIME UNDER HALL
>> Georgia Tech has been ranked in the preseason Top 25 by at least one of the major polls (Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, USA Today/Baseball Weekly) in each of Danny Hall’s 19 seasons as the Yellow Jackets’ skipper.
>> Tech has been a preseason Top 10 pick in eight of the last 14 years and a Top 5 selection in four of the last 12.
TECH ON THE AIR
>> A record 43 baseball games involving ACC teams, including all 13 games of the ACC Baseball Championship in Greensboro, N.C., will be broadcast by the conference’s television partners this season.
>> Tech will tie a school record with 15 regular-season television games this season (2003), including six games as part of the ACC’s package — one nationally-televised contest at North Carolina (April 22) on ESPNU — and seven others on CSS.
>> Additional games on ESPN3, CSS and FS-South are possible and all non-TV home games will be streamed live at RamblinWreck.com.
>> Radio broadcasts of every Tech game — home and road — can be heard over the air on WREK (91.1), the flagship station of Georgia Tech baseball, and at RamblinWreck.com.
RECAPPING THE PRESEASON HONOR ROLL
>> Junior RHP Buck Farmer and sophomore CF Kyle Wren were named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Preseason All-America Team, and Farmer also earned a spot on the Louisville Slugger Preseason All-America list.
>> Junior LF Brandon Thomas earned mention on the Baseball America Preseason All-America team, which is selected by a panel of Major League Baseball scouting directors.
>> Sophomore Zane Evans was selected the No. 9 catcher nationally and junior Luke Bard was picked the No. 10 reliever in the nation by Perfect Game.
>> In College Baseball Daily’s list of the Top 100 college baseball players this season, Farmer was listed at No. 20 and sophomore 1B/OF/LHP Daniel Palka was 29th.
GEORGIA TECH BLOODLINES
>> Luke Bard — His brother Daniel is former UNC standout and current Red Sox pitcher.
>> Jake Davies — Brother of Toronto Blue Jays RHP Kyle Davies, who was drafted by the Atlanta Braves out of high school.
>> Jonathan Roberts — Great uncle Mickey Babb played football for Georgia from 1961-1963 (All-SEC in 1962) and the Philadelphia Eagles in 1964.
>> Kyle & Colby Wren — The twins are the sons of current Braves GM Frank Wren. Wren was the Vice President of the Florida Marlins in 1997 when the franchise won its first ever World Series.
>> Jamal Golden — His cousin, Reggie Golden, was selected in the second round of the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft by the Chicago Cubs
>> Connor Lynch — His grandfather, Jerry Lynch, played in the MLB for 13 years with the Pirates and Reds, and roomed with Roberto Clemente and Bill Mazarowski.
>> A.J. Murray — His brother Michael was a standout catcher at Wake Forest, and currently plays for the San Francisco Giants organization.
>> Charles Sheffield — His uncle, Dan Reeves, is a former player in the NFL and head coach of the Atlanta Falcons when the Falcons advanced to their only Super Bowl in franchise history in 1998.
