April 5, 2010
Live Stats: RamblinWreck.com
Live Audio: WREK 91.1 FM
Twitter Updates: Twitter.com/gt_baseball
ATLANTA – The second-ranked Georgia Tech baseball team (25-3, 11-1 ACC) will host Kennesaw State (13-17, 4-5 A-Sun) Tuesday at 6 p.m., for a midweek game at Russ Chandler Stadium. Sophomore Mark Pope will take the mound for Tech as the Jackets look to improve on a 6-1 record against in-state opponents.
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS:
Tuesday, April 6 (6 p.m.) – Russ Chandler Stadium
Georgia Tech – Mark Pope, So., RHP (3-0, 4.62 ERA, 34 K’s)
Kennesaw State – Zak Griffith, So., LHP (1-1, 6.10 ERA, 20 K’s)
BROADCAST INFORMATION
The GT radio broadcast can be heard over the air on WREK (91.1), the flagship station of Georgia Tech baseball, and online at RamblinWreck.com. The games can also be heard online, free of charge at www.ramblinwreck.com.
Be sure to tune into the pre-game show 15 minutes before every game as play-by-play commentator Kyle Tait will preview the matchup.
PROMOTIONS
Tuesday: $2 Tuesdays; Fans can enjoy admission, drinks, hot dogs and popcorn for $2 each. In addition, 250 trading cards of Georgia Tech players and coaches will be given away.
SERIES PREVIEW
Georgia Tech is has won 11 of its last 12 games, andthree-straight after sweeping Duke at home over the weekend …Tech won eight-straight games before falling to Kennesaw State lastWednesday … Kennesaw State (13-7, 4-5) will hit the road for thefirst time in 10 days when it travels to Russ Chandler StadiumTuesday … The Owls won four-straight before losing to Belmont inthe second game of a double-header Saturday. The Jackets arecurrently in sole possession of first place in the ACC CoastalDivision with an 11-1 record in conference play … Kennesaw Stateis currently in seventh place in the A-Sun with a 4-5 record in theleague. Tech is ranked as high as No. 2 in both the ESPN/USA TodayCoaches’ and Baseball America polls.
SERIES HISTORY
Georgia Tech holds a 10-3 lead in the all-time series against Kennesaw State … The Yellow Jackets are 9-2 against the Owls since Danny Hall’s arrival in 1994.
Last Meeting:
Kennesaw State rallied for five runs in the seventh inning, and held the Jackets two just three hits in a 7-4 win on March 31 at Stillwell Stadium.
UP NEXT
Tech will head off to Virginia next weekend to face the third-ranked Cavaliers for a three-game ACC series in Charlottesville, Va.. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. Saturday and 12 p.m. Sunday.
QUICK NOTES
GT holds the best record in the conference at 25-3, and leadsthe ACC in pitching with a 3.17 ERA, while tied for the lead inhitting with a .344 average. Tech’s starting pitchers are 19-2, andhave combined for 177 strikeouts in 177.0 innings. Deck McGuire leads the way with 54 strikeouts, are the secondmost in the conference. McGuire ranks in the top five in theconference in four different categories: wins (5, 1st), Inningspitched (53.0, 1st), strikeouts (54, 2nd) and complete games (2,1st) Tech is the only team in the ACC that has two pitchers withfive wins (McGuire and Brandon Cumpton). The Tech bullpen is 6-1 on the year, and4-for-4 in save opportunities. The Jackets have recorded fiveshutouts on the year, three shy of trying the school record ofeight – held by the 1906, 1971 and 1997 teams. The five shutoutslead the conference. The Jackets have scored double digit runs 15times this season, and in nine of their last 12 games. Tech has hit63 home runs this season, an average of 2.3 per game. Sevendifferent players have hit at least five homers, and five have hitat least eight. Senior Tony Plagman leads the team with 10. Even more impressive mightbe the team’s slugging percentage, which sits at .620 on theseason. Junior Derek Dietrich has started 148 consecutive games at shortstop,every game of his career. Tech has produced 15 different battingorders in 28 games this season. On March 27, Derek Dietrich, Tony Plagman and Cole Leonida hit back-to-back-to-back homers against NorthCarolina … It was the first time Tech hit three-consecutivehomers nearly 10 years, when Brad Stockton, Mark Teixeira andcurrent assistant coach Bryan Prince did it on May 13, 2000 at Wake Forest. Tech alsoswept Carolina for the first time since the 2000 season, and firsttime in Chapel Hill since 1997 … It was the first time the TarHeels had been swept at home since the 2003 season.
GEORGIA TECH vs. IN-STATE OPPONENTS
The state championships of college baseball in Georgia continue Tuesday when Tech plays its eighth game against an in-state opponent this season. Georgia Tech went 8-4 against teams from the state of Georgia in 2009 and has posted a 6-1 mark against in-state foes in 2010. The Jackets have won two against Georgia Southern, two against Mercer, one against Georgia and one against Georgia State, with their only loss coming to Kennesaw State.
Tech has a total of 13 regular season games on the schedule against schools from Georgia this season.
Since 1999, the Yellow Jackets own a 104-34 (.754) record against its in-state foes. In 17 years under head coach Danny Hall, Tech is 148-51 (.744) against teams from Georgia.
IN 2010, TECH HAS SHOWN IT CAN….
Score a lot of runs: 15 games in double digit runs (three gamesof 20+ runs, five of 15+ runs.
Close out games: 20-0 when leading after six innings
Get a big inning: 10 games with an inning of at least six runs,including a season-high 10 in the sixth inning against Xavier(2/27)
Hit with from different parts of the lineup: 15 different lineupsin 2010.
Hit the deep ball throughout the batting order: 12 players with atleast one home run, seven players with at least five home runs, andfive with at least eight.
Shutout opponents: Five shutouts in 28 games
Get an out when needed: 9.0K’s/9 IP.
Play some defense: .976 fielding percentage, having made just 26errors.
Rally for the win: Two come from behind victories when down byseven runs, including a five-run ninth inning rally for an 11-8(10) win over then No.17 UNC.
OFF TO A GREAT START
Tech’s 25-3 record to start to the 2010 season is its second-best ever under 17-year head coach Danny Hall. The 1997 team opened with a 28-2 record, before losing three-straight on the road at Miami. It is also the second best record in school history for a season that included more than 18 games. The 1920 team finished with a 16-2 record, while the 1923 Jackets went 16-2-2.
