March 17, 2003
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Georgia Tech, ranked second in the nation’s by Baseball America, hosts 11th-ranked Auburn on Tuesday night at Russ Chandler Stadium. First pitch is set for 7:07 p.m., and the game will be televised regionally by CSS (Comcast Sports Southeast, cable channel 45 in Atlanta). Live radio coverage will be available on WREK-Radio (91.1 FM in Atlanta), while radio coverage and live statistics for the game will be available on the internet at www.ramblinwreck.com.
Tuesday game with Auburn will conclude the annual two-game, home and home series the resumed in 2000. Tech won last Tuesday in Auburn, 4-2.
GEORGIA TECH UPDATE (17-1, 0-0 ACC)
Georgia Tech won its first 17 games of the season, a school record, before falling for the first time in 2003 on Sunday against Kent State (5-3). Tech’s 17-0 start eclipsed the previous school record of 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 2.27 ERA in 15 games, including allowing just five earned runs in three games last weekend against Kent State, and is holding opponents to a .221 batting average. LHP Kyle Bakker (4-0, 2.94) is the ace of the Tech staff, while the bullpen has combined for a 2.23 ERA in 68.2 innings. Tech pitchers have walked 49 batters in 163 innings of work (2.71 walks per nine innings).
Offensively, the Yellow Jackets are hitting .275 as a team through the first 18 games of the season but they are averaging more than seven runs per game due to some timely hitting and 29 home runs in 18 games (averaging 1.61 per game after hitting 0.97 home runs per game in 2002). The team has been led by 1B Clifton Remole (.382-0-10), DH Micah Owings (.340-5-10) and C Mike Nickeas (.333-4-19).
AUBURN UPDATE (18-5, 2-1 SEC)
Auburn is currently 18-5 on the season after winning two of three games against Tennessee at home last weekend. Tuesday’s game against Georgia Tech will mark the Tigers’ 11th game against teams from the ACC this season, and Auburn is 8-2 in those 10 previous games (Clemson, Virginia and North Carolina). The Tigers are batting .324 as a team and own a team ERA of 4.00. Senior RHP Levale Speigner (4-0, 3.97) is the scheduled starter on Tuesday night.
QUOTING DANNY HALL ON GAME VS. AUBURN ON TUESDAY:
“If the game last week is any indication of what this week’s game will be then I expect a great ball game. I was very impressed with their team. They had a sellout crowd over there and I am homing that people will come and support us to give us that home field advantage.”
ON OPENING ACC SCHEDULE THIS WEEKEND AGAINST MARYLAND:
“It’s very important that you get started good in the conference, particularly when you are playing at home. Maryland played Wake Forest very tough last weekend and they have been improving every year. We are going to have to be ready to play because it is four key games for us this week.”
ON THE TECH PITCHING STAFF IN 2003, AND THE CONTRIBUTIONS FROM DIFFERENT PLAYERS:
“We have a lot of depth in the pitching staff. Micah Owings pitched very well on the road at Auburn last Tuesday and that was an indication of how good he is. Aaron Walker made his first start last weekend and pitched a very good ball game against Kent State. Andrew Kown came in during a really tough spot on Saturday and he was lights out. We continue to get contributions from a lot of different guys on the pitching staff, and that is very encouraging.”
ON FRESHMAN MICAH OWINGS:
“Micah had a great week for us. He is obviously a great pitcher, but he has swung the bat very well. He hit a big home run against Auburn and he had a number of hits over the weekend against Kent State as well. He is a guy who is a great competitor and is a great kid. He wants to be involved in the action and he has been a big help to our team.”
ON THE TECH OFFENSE:
“We have to keep working at it. I know that we are a much better offensive team than we have shown. But I look at that as a positive, because we have too good of players and they work too hard for them to not be successful. We have to stay positive and I know that those hits will start falling.”
STARTING PITCHER NOTES
Tuesday: MICAH OWINGS (RHP) 4-0, 1.69 ERA
Freshman Micah Owings will make his third career start on Tuesday night against Auburn in what will be his fifth appearance of the season. Owings holds the unique distinction of earning a win in each of his four previous appearances, including two starts and two relief stints.
Owings earned a win in his first career start against Campbell (Mar. 4) after holding the Camels to two runs on four hits in six innings. He struck out three batters and did not issue a walk. The freshman won his second start of the season last Tuesday at Auburn (6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 7 K).
The 6-5 power righthander made his first appearance in Tech’s second game of the season, working 3.1 scoreless and hitless innings against Georgia Southern. The only baserunner he allowed came via a hit batsman on an 0-2 pitch. Owings earned a win in relief against Michigan in his second appearance, recording two outs in the top of the ninth inning in a tie game before Tech rallied for a 7-6 win in the bottom of the ninth.
As a senior at Gainesville High School, Owings went 12-1 with a 1.03 ERA while recording 121 strikeouts and just three walks in 75 innings.
Owings also serves as Tech’s regular DH and backup first baseman, batting .340, second on the club, with a team-high five home runs.
GEORGIA TECH VS. AUBURN
AUBURN LEADS, 112-102-5
Auburn leads Georgia Tech, 112-102-5, in a series that dates to 1897. The 219-game series stands as the second longest in school history behind only Tech’s series with Georgia (322 games). The Yellow Jackets hold a 60-45-2 lead in games played in Atlanta.
The two schools played every year that they fielded teams from 1905 through 1967 with the exception of the war years (1943-46), and then resumed the series on a regular basis from 1974 through 1989. The Tigers and Yellow Jackets played just two times in the 1990’s before resuming the series as a two-game home-and-home affair for the 2001 season. Tech is 4-1 against the Tigers since the most recent resumption of the series, including a sweep of both games last year.
Last season, Tech took a 9-5 win at Auburn behind a 3-for-5, 3 RBI effort from shortstop Victor Menocal and a strong pitching performance from Jeff Watchko (6 IP, 2 ER). The Yellow Jackets scored seven runs in the sixth inning to break the game open. The Yellow Jackets won 10-4 in Atlanta where Jeremy Slayden went 3-for-5 with three RBI and Chris Goodman held the Tigers to two runs in seven innings.
The Yellow Jackets won the first game of this year’s two-game series, taking a 4-2 win at Plainsman Park last Tuesday night. Micah Owings went six innings and allowed just one run, while Tyler Greene, Matt Murton and Owings all hit home runs in the game.
Georgia Tech is 4-2 against Auburn under head coach Danny Hall.
HOME RUNS COMING AT BLISTERING PACE
Georgia Tech has hit 29 home runs as a team in 18 games in 2003, averaging 1.61 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 18 29 1.61
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 10-1 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 46-5 (.902) in the new Russ Chandler Stadium.
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.
BEST START IN SCHOOL HISTORY
Georgia Tech’s 17-0 record to open 2003 established a new record as the best mark to open a season in school history. The Yellow Jackets eclipsed the previous record of a 16-game winning streak to open the 1987 season.
LONGEST WINNING STREAKS
Georgia Tech’s 17-game winning streak top open the season ranks as the third longest streak in school history, and it is the 25th winning streak in school history of 10 or more games.
PATTERSON CLIMBS TECH STOLEN BASE CHARTS
Sophomore second baseman Eric Patterson has stolen 16 bases in 18 attempts this season, raising his career total to 57 steals in 85 career games. Patterson’s 57 stolen bases already ranks seventh in Tech history, and he can climb into the school’s all-time top five with just 11 more stolen bases. Ty Griffin (1986-88) holds the school record with 127 stolen bases.
Patterson’s 41 steals as a freshman in 2002 was the second highest single season total in school history.
THIEVES ON THE BASES
Georgia Tech started a new trend with 130 stolen bases in 2002 (1.91 steals per game), the third highest figure in school history and the most steals in 14 years. Second baseman Eric Patterson led the way with 41 steals last season.
The Yellow Jackets have stolen 37 bases thus far in 2003 (2.05 per game), led by 16 steals in 18 attempts from Patterson. The Yellow Jackets have been successful in 37 of 47 stolen base attempts (78.7%).
More impressively, however, has been Tech ability to control its opponents’ running game. Opponents are just 6-for-12 in stolen base attempts in 18 games this season.
