Feb. 25, 2004
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ATLANTA–Winners of six straight games to open the 2004 season, third-ranked Georgia Tech (6-0) travels to Fullerton, Calif., this weekend for the Kia Baseball Bash. The three-day round robin event also includes No. 13 Cal State Fullerton (6-7), Oklahoma (5-1) and Southern California (2-5). Tech opens the Bash on Friday at 5:30 p.m. (EST) against USC, then faces Cal State Fullerton on Saturday at 10 p.m. and meets Oklahoma on Sunday at 11:30 a.m.
Following this weekend’s Kia Baseball Bash, the Yellow Jackets visit 10th-ranked Auburn on Tuesday before hosting Rutgers for a three-game series at Russ Chandler Stadium on Friday-Sunday.
Game Coverage: Live statistics will be available on the internet at the Kia Baseball Bash Official Site. A live radio broadcast on Friday will be available on USC’s official web site.
LEADING OFF … NEWS & NOTES ON THE YELLOW JACKETS
*** Georgia Tech is ranked as high as No. 3 in the nation by Collegiate Baseball; the Yellow Jackets are ranked No. 5 by Baseball America and No. 6 by USA Today/Baseball Weekly … Tech has been ranked in the preseason Top 25 by at least one of the three major polls (Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball and Baseball Weekly) in all 11 seasons under head coach Danny Hall … The Yellow Jackets have been ranked in the preseason Top 10 in seven of the last nine seasons, including a Top 5 ranking in three of the last four years.
*** Freshman 3B Wes Hodges, the lone newcomer to crack the opening day lineup, had an impressive debut on opening day in a doubleheader at Georgia Southern. In game one, Hodges went 2-for-5 including a grand slam, while he had the game-winning RBI single in the 10th inning to give the Yellow Jackets a 5-4 win in game two. For the season, Hodges is batting .381.
*** Tech has hit seven home runs in six games this season, although no player on the roster has hit more than one. Further evidence of a balanced offensive attack, eight different players have at least five RBI and no player has more than seven.
*** Through the first six games of the season, the Yellow Jackets are batting .332 as a team and averaging just over 10 runs per game. Tech has held its opponents to a .223 average and 2.83 runs per game.
*** Tech pitching held Villanova to just three runs and 17 hits in a three game sweep of the Wildcats last weekend in Atlanta. The staff has a collective 2.29 ERA and has struck out 65 batters in 55 innings.
Georgia Tech vs. The Kia Baseball Bash Field
vs. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (0-3)
*** Georgia Tech is 0-3 all-time against USC, and all three meetings between the two schools came during the 2000 season. In February, the Trojans took a 9-2 decision in the Kia Baseball Bash. The two teams met again in June in the NCAA Atlanta Super Regional, and USC swept a pair of games (7-2 and 6-3) behind the starting pitching of Rik Courier and Mark Prior to advance to the College World Series.
vs. CAL STATE FULLERTON (3-1)
*** Georgia Tech and Cal State Fullerton have met on four previous occasions, and the Yellow Jackets hold a 3-1 lead in the series.
*** The Yellow Jackets and Titans first met in the 1993 Oscar Mayer Classic in Minneapolis, and Tech won 7-6 in 11 innings.
*** Tech and Fullerton met on three occasions during the 1994 season. The Titans took a 2-0 decision during February in the Anaheim Hilton Classic, but the Yellow Jackets won two games during the 1994 College World Series. Tech won 2-0 in the CWS opener and the Yellow Jackets eliminated the Titans, 3-2, in an 11 inning affair that was capped by a home run from Nomar Garciaparra that proved to be the game winner in the top of the 11th.
vs. OKLAHOMA (0-5)
*** Georgia Tech is 0-5 all-time against Oklahoma. All five meetings have come on neutral fields during tournament play, including the 1994 College World Series championship game.
*** The Yellow Jackets and Sooners first met in the 1988 Desert Classic in Las Vegas, and Oklahoma won a pair of games 6-4 and 3-2.
*** Tech and Oklahoma met twice during the 1994 season, including an 8-6 Sooner win in the Kia Baseball Bash in Fullerton. The two teams met for a rematch in the final game of the 1994 College World Series, which Oklahoma won 13-5 to claim the national championship.
*** The most recent meeting came in the 1999 Disney Baseball Blast in Orlando, where the Sooners won 12-0.
Georgia Tech’s Kia Baseball Bash History
1994 ANAHEIM HILTON CLASSIC
The 1994 Anaheim Hilton Classic featured an impressive field that included three teams that advanced to the College World Series – Georgia Tech, Cal State Fullerton and Oklahoma. Also included in that tournament was San Diego.
The Yellow Jackets went 1-2 in the 1994 event defeating San Diego (5-4) and falling to Fullerton (2-0) and Oklahoma (6-8).
Tech’s 1994 team, which featured current major league starts Nomar Garciaparra (Red Sox), Jason Varitek (Red Sox) and Jay Payton (Padres), reached the College World Series and won two games against Cal State Fullerton before falling to Oklahoma in the national championship game.
2000 KIA BASEBALL BASH
Tech made its second trip to Fullerton for the 2000 Kia Baseball Bash, an event that also featured Cal State Fullerton, Southern California and Mississippi State. The Yellow Jackets dropped a 9-2 decision to USC before the final two days of the event were rained out.
Of note, the Yellow Jackets would go on to meet the Trojans in the NCAA Atlanta Super Regional at Russ Chandler Stadium. USC, which defeated Cal State Fullerton in the NCAA Fullerton Regional to advance to the Super Regionals, won 7-2 and 6-3 to move on to the College World Series.
STARTING PITCHER NOTES
Friday vs. Southern California: Micah Owings (rhp) 2-0, 1.25 ERA
Sophomore right-hander Micah Owings, a first-team preseason All-America selection by Baseball America, will start the opener of the Kia Baseball Bash against USC on Friday afternoon. Owings, who became Tech’s No. 1 starter over the final month of the 2003 season, will be making his 15th career start.
Owings has worked seven innings and allowed just one earned run in each of his first two starts to earn wins over Georgia Southern and Villanova.
For the Season, Owings is 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA. In 14 innings he has struck out 10 batters without issuing a walk, holding opponents to a .231 batting average.
Owings, who also serves as Tech’s regular DH, led the Yellow Jackets in both wins (9) and home runs (15) as a freshman last season.
Saturday vs. Cal State Fullerton: Brian Burks (rhp) 1-0, 4.00 ERA
Senior Brian Burks will get the starting assignment in Tech’s second game of the Kia Baseball Bash against host Cal State Fullerton. A versatile and veteran member of the Tech pitching staff, Burks has made 76 career appearances including 18 starts and 58 relief stints. He begins the 2004 season as a member of the weekend rotation after working primarily as a reliever in 2003.
For his career, Burks is 20-9 with 13 saves. He is currently ranked seventh in Tech history in both career saves (13) and appearances (76), and he is ranked third in school history in fewest walks per nine innings (2.40).
Burks struggled in his first start of the season at Georgia Southern on Feb. 15, allowing four runs in four innings of work before being removed from the game. The veteran bounced back with a solid effort last Saturday aganist Villanova, working five innings and holding the Wildcats to just one run. He tied a career high with eight strikeouts.
Sunday vs. Oklahoma: Andrew Kown (rhp) 1-0, 0.90 ERA
Junior Andrew Kown will make his second start of the season in Tech’s final game of the Kia Baseball Bash on Sunday against Oklahoma.
Kown pitched in relief in Tech’s opening weekend, a two game set at Georgia Southern, and logged four innings of scoreless relief (one hit, one walk, 4 K’s).
The right-hander made his first start of the season last Sunday against Villanova. He dominated the Wildcat hitters for six innings, allowing one run on five hits in six innings. He struck out a career-high 11 batters, including 10 looking.
Kown has made six previous starts in his career and he is 4-1 in those contests.
HEADING WEST
Georgia Tech is making its third appearance in a tournament hosted by Cal State-Fullerton, having previously competed in the Titans’ event in 1994 and 2000. Listed below are Tech’s regular season visits to the west coast:
Year Location GP Record Opponents1986 Hawaii 10 8-2 Hawaii (1-1), Waseda (1-1), Sacremento St. (2-0), Hawaii-Pacific (2-0), Santa Clara (2-0)1988 Las Vegas 5 1-4 Oklahoma (0-2), UNLV (0-1), TCU (1-1)1990 Hawaii 10 5-5 Hawaii (1-1), Wright St. (1-1), Oklahoma St. (1-1), Iona (1-1), Creighton (1-1)1994 Fullerton 3 1-2 Oklahoma (0-1), San Diego (1-0), Cal State Fullerton (0-1)1995 Las Vegas 5 4-1 Utah (2-0), Washington (1-1), UNLV (1-0)1999 Los Angeles 3 1-2 UCLA (1-2)2000 Fullerton 1 0-1 Southern California (0-1)2004 Fullerton 3 ??? USC, Cal State Fullerton, Oklahoma
BULLPEN DOES THE JOB
Georgia Tech’s 6-0 start to the season is due in large part to the success of the Yellow Jackets’ pitching staff, which owns a 2.29 ERA and has held opponents to a .223 batting average.
The Tech bullpen has done its part as well. For the season, the unit is 1-0 with three saves and a 2.57 ERA. Last weekend in nine appearances against Villanova, the bullpen made nine appearances and did not allow a run, recording two saves and holding the Wildcats to a .133 batting average.
Pitching App. W-L SV ERA IP H R ER BB K Avg.Starters 6 5-0 0 2.12 34.0 32 11 8 5 37 .256Bullpen 19 1-0 3 2.57 21.0 11 6 6 13 28 .162
