April 11, 2002
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ATLANTA — Georgia Tech, the nation’s fourth-ranked team according to USA Today/Baseball Weekly, travels to College Park for a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series with Maryland this weekend. First pitch for Friday and Saturday is set for 7 p.m., and Sunday’s series finale will begin at 1 p.m. Live radio broadcasts for the entire series is available on WREK-Radio (91.1 FM in Atlanta) and on the internet at www.ramblinwreck.com, while live scoring and boxscores for all of Georgia Tech’s games in the 2002 season is available at www.ramblinwreck.com.
The Yellow Jackets stand at 29-4 overall and 6-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference following a three-game sweep of ACC foe Duke last weekend and a pair of non-conference wins over Auburn and Western Carolina this week. The Yellow Jackets currently own an 11-game winning streak and have won six consecutive ACC contests after starting 0-2 in league play. Maryland enters the weekend series with a 21-11 overall record and a 1-5 mark in ACC play after dropping two of three last weekend at home to Virginia.
The Tech offense is led by shortstop Victor Menocal, who leads the team in batting (.426), hits (58), doubles (12) and runs (34). Oufielder Jeremy Slayden leads the team with nine homers, while catcher Tyler Parker has a team-best 35 RBI. As a team, Tech is batting .316 and averaging nearly nine runs per game. The pitching corps is led by a duo of sophomores in southpaw Kyle Bakker (8-0, 2.40 ERA) and righty Brian Burks (6-2, 2.63 ERA, 3 saves).
Following this weekend’s series at Maryland, Tech will host Auburn on Tuesday and travel to Florida State for a three-game ACC series next weekend.
SERIES VS. MARYLAND
Georgia Tech leads Maryland, 47-17, in a series that dates to 1921. The Yellow Jackets have an all-time record of 15-11 in games played in College Park. Last year the Yellow Jackets swept a three-game series in Atlanta, winning 15-1, 8-1 and 11-9, to extend Tech’s current streak to 10 straight wins against Maryland. Two years ago in College Park, the Yellow Jackets swept a three-game series from the Terrapins on their home field.
Tech is 22-2 against Maryland under head coach Danny Hall, including a 10-2 mark at Shipley Field.
ON THE HILL . . .
* As a staff, Georgia Tech starting pitchers are a collective 23-2 with a 2.85 ERA in 33 games this season, while walking just 1.6 batters per nine innings. Tech starting pitchers are holding opponents to a .239 batting average.
*Sophomore left hander Kyle Bakker (8-0, 2.40 ERA) will start the first game of the series on Friday night at Shipley Field, making his 10th consecutive series opening start.
* Bakker was Tech’s No. 3 starter for much of the stretch run of the 2001 season before being sidelined with stiffness in his left arm for all of the Yellow Jackets’ postseason games.
* The big southpaw, who is the tallest player in the ACC at 6-9, has taken over as the No. 1 starter for Tech in 2002, and he has opened the season with consecutive wins over Georgia Southern, Tennessee Tech, Coastal Carolina and Winthrop – all teams that won games in the NCAA Tournament in 2001 – in addition to Georgia State, Gardner-Webb, NC State and Duke.
* In 13 career starts, Bakker is 11-1 with a 2.56 ERA in 87.2 IP (25 ER). His list of victories over the last two years includes Georgia Southern (twice), Auburn, Clemson, Florida State, Tennessee Tech, Coastal Carolina and Winthrop, all teams that won at least one game in the NCAA Regionals in 2001.
MENOCAL BREAKS TECH HITTING STREAK RECORD
Senior shortstop Victor Menocal had a 30-game hitting streak snapped on Wednesday against Western Carolina, but his streak established a new Georgia Tech record for most consecutive games with a base hit. Menocal’s streak ranks as the sixth-longest such streak in ACC history.
Despite failing to get a hit in two games this season, Menocal has still reached base safely in all 33 of Tech’s games in 2002.
Longest GEORGIA TECH Hitting Streaks: 30 games, Victor Menocal, 200228 games, Carlton Fleming, 199027 games, Jay Payton, 199327 games, Richard Lewis, 2000
Longest ACC Hitting Streaks: 41 games, Rusty Adkins, Clemson, 1965-66 37 games, Brian Kowitz, Clemson, 1989-90 34 games, J.D. Drew, Florida State, 1997 33 games, Ryan Barthelemy, Florida State, 2001-02 31 games, Ron Maurer, North Carolina, 1990 30 games, Victor Menocal, 2002
SHORT HOPS
* Through 33 games, head coach Danny Hall has used 30 different starting lineups.
* Tech is currently second in the ACC in team ERA (3.30), trailing only Clemson (3.26). The Yellow Jackets have never lead the conference in that category since joining the ACC in 1980.
* Tech is a perfect 20-0 at the new Russ Chandler Stadium in 2002, outscoring its opponents 186-70. Dating back to last season, the Yellow Jackets currently own a 25-game home winning streak.
* Tech’s 14-1 mark to start the season was its best since opening the 1997 season with a 15-1 record. The record for most wins with only one loss came in 1992 when the Yellow Jackets opened 24-1.
*After posting a 3-7 record in one-run games in 2001, Tech is 6-1 in games decided by one run and 12-1 in games decided by three runs or less in 2002.
* Tech has opened the 2002 season showing off its team speed. The Yellow Jackets were a perfect 11-for-11 in the stolen base department in the first two games of the season at Georgia Southern and stand at 74-for-90 (80.2%) on the season. Tech stole 68 bases during the entire 2002 season.
* Tech is stealing an average of 2.24 bases per game. The school record for stolen bases per game is 2.21, which was established during the 1987 season.
* New Tech pitching coach Bobby Moranda has stressed the importance of throwing strikes. Those efforts have been displayed early in the season where Tech pitchers have walked 76 batters in 297.1 innings (2.3 per 9 IP).
* Sophomore Kyle Bakker leads the Tech staff in K/BB ratio with 64 strikeouts and just 12 walks in 63.2 innings. Bakker’s career K/BB ratio stands at 6.4 to 1.
* Tech has used 15 different pitchers already this season after having a total of 11 different pitchers see action during the 2001 season. The most pitchers that Tech has used in any one season prior to this season was 13 in both 1985 and 1996.
* Four freshmen – Eric Patterson (2B), Brandon Boggs (CF), Clifton Remole (1B) and Jeremy Slayden (DH) – were in the starting lineup for opening day. Mike Nickeas (3B) started the second game of the series at Georgia Southern, raising the total number of freshmen to start in 2002 to five. A total of 15 freshmen have seen game action so far this season, while seven different rookie position players have made at least one start.
WINNING THE CLOSE ONES
One of the main reasons for Georgia Tech’s early exit from the NCAA Tournament last year was the struggles of the Yellow Jackets in close games. Tech posted just a 3-7 mark in one-run games a 10-12 record in games decided by three runs or less during the 2001 season. This year, Tech is 6-1 in one-run games and 12-1 in games decided by three runs or less.
BEST RECORD AFTER 33 GAMES
Georgia Tech owns a 29-4 record after 33 games, the best record in school history though that number of games. The previous best mark after 33 games was a 28-5 record in 1971, 1994 and 1997. The best record for a Tech team through 36 games is 31-5, a mark that was achieved during the 1997 season. Listed below are Tech’s best record through 33 games:
BEST GEORGIA TECH RECORDS AFTER 33 GAMES . . . Record Year Next 3 Games1. 29-4 2002 ???2. 28-5 1997 3-0 (31-5) 28-5 1994 1-2 (29-7) 28-5 1971 2-1 (30-6)5. 27-6 1990 1-2 (28-8)6. 26-7 1987 2-1 (28-8)7. 24-8-1 1985 2-1 (26-9-1)
HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT
Georgia Tech’s Matthew Boggs stands as the Yellow Jackets’ all-time leader with 51 times hit by a pitch. Listed below is the ACC’s all-time leaders in times hit by pitch.
ACC CAREER LEADERS - TIMES HIT BY PITCH1. Karl Jernigan (FSU, 1998-01) 612. Matthew Boggs (GT, 1998-pres.) 51 Khalil Greene (CU, 1999-pres.) 51 Ryan Earey (UNC, 1998-00) 51 Tim LaVigne (UVA, 1997-00) 51
