April 22, 2003
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ATLANTA–Georgia Tech, ranked fourth in the nation by Collegiate Baseball and USA Today/Baseball Weekly, hosts Georgia at 7 p.m. Wednesday night at Russ Chandler Stadium in the first of three scheduled meetings between the two rivals. The Yellow Jackets travel to Athens on May 7, and the two teams play the final game of the series on May 13 at Turner Field.
Wednesday’s game will be televised regionally by Comcast Sports Southeast (cable channel 45 in Atlanta). Radio coverage will be available on WREK-Radio (91.1 FM in Atlanta). Live statistics and the radio broadcast will also be available on the internet at www.ramblinwreck.com.
Tech and Georgia are playing a three-game regular season series in 2003 after playing a four game series from 1990-2002.
GEORGIA TECH UPDATE (32-7, 11-1 ACC)
Winners of nine of its last 10 games, Georgia Tech currently stands in first place in the ACC with an 11-1 league mark after sweeping three games from Wake Forest last weekend at Russ Chandler Stadium. Tech’s 17-0 start to the season eclipsed the previous school record of a 16-0 start in 1987.
Tech swept Wake Forest largely due to the success of its pitching staff, which combined for a 2.00 ERA and held the Deacon hitters to a .214 batting average.
Tech has belted 58 home runs this season (averaging 1.49 per game after hitting 0.97 per game in 2002). The recent offensive surge over the last 20 games has raised the team average to .313 after hitting .277 through the first 19 games of the season.
The Georgia Tech pitching staff owns a 3.50 team ERA, including a 7-4 record, 12 saves and a 3.63 ERA from the Tech bullpen. Opponents are batting .239 against Tech pitching this season. Over the last three weekends, the starting rotation of Micah Owings (6-1, 3.78), Kyle Bakker (7-0, 3.16) and Chris Goodman (6-1, 4.13) is 7-0 with a 2.53 ERA.
GEORGIA UPDATE (19-20, 4-14 SEC)
Georgia is 19-20 overall and 4-14 in the SEC pending a Tuesday night home game against Clemson. The Bulldogs are batting .316 as a team and own a team ERA of 5.78. Junior LHP Paul Lubrano (2-3, 4.50) is the scheduled starter on Wednesday night in Atlanta.
QUOTING DANNY HALL
ON WEDNESDAY’S GAME VS. GEORGIA:
“It’s a great game for college baseball in the state of Georgia. We should have a great crowd, and we are coming off a very good weekend against Wake Forest. I am hoping that we can use the momentum of the weekend to continue to play well against our number one rival.”
ON THE CHANGE TO A THREE-GAME SERIES VS. GEORGIA, INCULDING A GAME AT TURNER FIELD:
“It makes the series very interesting. I was always in favor of playing four times per year. But we had a chance through Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta to play this game at Turner Field. Playing a game there will be a big thrill for our players.”
ON THE WEEKEND SERIES AT CLEMSON:
“Clemson is perennially one of the toughest places to play in our league. I think that it will be a very good series. Since I have been at Georgia Tech we have never played very well up there, so I am hoping that we can change that this year.”
ON THE PERFORMANCE OF TECH’S PITCHING STAFF LAST WEEK VS. WAKE FOREST:
“Our pitching staff did a great job last weekend. All of our starters pitched great. I think Wake Forest has an outstanding team. I know that it’s not showing up right now in terms of wins and losses, but they have a lot of great hitters and I like their pitching.”
GEORGIA TECH VS. GEORGIA
GEORGIA LEADS, 181-139-2
Georgia leads Georgia Tech, 181-139-2, in a series that dates to 1898. The Yellow Jackets hold an 80-64-1 advantage in games played in Atlanta, while the Bulldogs hold a 48-106 edge in Athens.
The Yellow Jackets won five of six meetings between the two schools in 2002, including the final five games of the year. Tech won three of four during the regular season and sweeping a pair of games in the NCAA Atlanta Regional.
Tech has had the upper hand in the series in recent years, posting a 37-20 record against Georgia since 1988. The Yellow Jackets either won or split the annual regular season series every year from 1988-2000 until the Bulldogs took four of five games in 2001.
The Bulldogs won the first game of the 2002 series, 7-1, in Athens, but the Yellow Jackets responded with a 9-1 win the following evening in Atlanta. Tech then posted a 6-1 win in Athens, and then took a 12-11, 10-inninng win in Atlanta. Tech won 3-0 in the second round of the NCAA Atlanta Regional and then took an 8-7 decision in the championship game of the Regional.
Georgia Tech is 24-13 against Georgia under head coach Danny Hall.
Wednesday: JEFF WATCHKO (RHP) 2-2, 3.81 ERA
Senior Jeff Watchko will get the call on Wednesday night against Georgia in what will be his team-leading 20th appearance of 2003, but just his first start. He is 2-2 with a 3.81 and ranks second on the team with five saves.
Watchko has been one of the main members of the Tech bullpen in 2003, but he does have some experience as a starter in his collegiate career. In 11 previous starts, Watchko is 7-1 with a 4.28 ERA, with his only loss coming to South Carolina early in the 2002 season. He began last season as Tech’s No. 2 starter, but he found a home in his role as the “stopper” in the bullpen and went 6-1 with two saves in 20 relief appearances in the second half of the season. Watchko will be making his first start since Apr. 20, 2002 at Florida State.
For his career, Watchko is 18-7 with a 3.69 ERA in 212 career innings pitched. He has 19 saves, which ranks fourth on Tech’s all time list, just three behind all-time school leader Jim Poole.
Watchko is 1-1 with a 5.00 ERA (9.0 IP) in seven previous appearances against Georgia, all in relief.
PITCHING SHINES IN WAKE FOREST SERIES
Georgia Tech snapped a five game losing streak to Wake Forest with a three-game sweep of the Demon Deacons last weekend at Russ Chandler Stadium. The Yellow Jackets were aided by strong performances from the starting rotation of LHP Kyle Bakker and RHP’s Chris Goodman and Micah Owings, and RHP reliever Brian Burks. As a whole, the staff posted a 2.00 ERA and held the Deacon bats to a .214 team average.
Bakker tossed the second complete-game shutout of his career, outdueling Wake Forest ace Kyle Sleeth in Tech’s 2-0 win on Friday night. On Sunday, Owings took a no-hitter into the seventh inning as Tech won 5-3. Goodman worked six effective innings in Tech’s 10-4 win on Saturday. Burks earned saves on both Saturday and Sunday.
Over the last three weekends against North Carolina, Duke and Wake Forest, the starting rotation of Bakker, Goodman and Owings is a combined 7-0 with a 2.53 ERA in eight starts.
YELLOW JACKETS EXTEND ACC SERIES WIN STREAK TO SEVEN
Georgia Tech has won seven consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference weekend series dating back to late April of 2002. Tech won series from Virginia (2-1), Clemson (2-1) and North Carolina (2-1) down the stretch of 2002, and the Yellow Jackets own series wins over Maryland (3-0), North Carolina (2-1), Duke (3-0) and Wake Forest (3-0). The Yellow Jackets have actually won 10 of their last 11 ACC weekend series.
The current streak of seven straight series wins in the second longest in school history since the ACC adopted the current three-game format for the 1990 season. Tech won 10 straight series in 1993 and 1994.
BEST ACC START SINCE 1990
Georgia Tech’s 11-1 start in the ACC in 2003 is tied for the best in school history since the conference adopted the current three-game series format in 1990. Tech went 11-1 in the first 12 ACC games in the 1997 season, and finished the season in first place with a 19-4 mark. Listed below are Tech’s best starts in ACC play since 1990:
BEST RECORDS IN ACC PLAY THROUGH 12 GAMESYear Start Final ACC Record1997 11-1 19-42003 11-1 ???1994 10-2 16-81995 10-2 16-82000 10-2 18-6
NICKEAS, OWINGS & GREENE TABBED IN BASEBALL AMERICA MIDSEASON UPDATE
Baseball America magazine released its midseason update in the second week of April, and Georgia Tech was well represented on the list of best players by class. Mike Nickeas was selected as the best sophomore catcher in the nation, Tyler Greene was named as the best freshman shortstop and Micah Owings, who serves as a starting pitcher and designated hitter, was tabbed as the best freshman utility player in the country.
