April 13, 2010
Television:CSS-TV
Live Stats: RamblinWreck.com
Live Audio: WREK 91.1 FM
Twitter Updates: Twitter.com/gt_baseball
ATLANTA –No. 5 Georgia Tech will play rival Georgia for the second time this season, when it travels to Foley Field Wednesday for a midweek game in Athens, Ga. The Yellow Jackets (27-5, 12-3 ACC), coming off their first weekend series loss of the season, will face the Bulldogs (11-21, 3-9 SEC) at 7 p.m. in a televised game on CSS.
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS:
Wednesday, April 14 (7 p.m.) – Foley Field
Georgia Tech – Mark Pope, So., RHP (4-0, 4.05 ERA, 40 K’s)
Georgia – Eric Swegeman, Jr., RHP (0-2, 13.50 ERA, 5 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.
SERIES PREVIEW
Georgia Tech (27-5, 12-3 ACC) looks to rebound after droppingits first series of the season over the weekend, with a midweekgame against Georgia Wednesday at 7 p.m. on CSS … It is thesecond time the Yellow Jackets and Bulldogs will meet this season,with the third coming April 27 at Turner Field in the eighth annual”Spring Baseball Classic For Kids.” … The Jackets won the firstgame between the tie by a 6-5 score on March 16 at Russ ChandlerStadium … Tech is 7-1 against in-state opponents this season. TheJackets are ranked as high as No. 5 in three different polls thisweek (ESPN/USA Today Coaches’, Baseball America and NCBWA) Georgiareturns 19 letterwinners from a 2009 team that went 38-24 overall(15-15 SEC) and went 2-2 in the NCAA Tallahassee Regional … TheBulldogs went 1-2 in the series against No. 15 Ole Miss over theweekend … Georgia has played four Atlantic Coast Conferenceopponents this season (Clemson, Duke, Florida State and GeorgiaTech).
SERIES HISTORY
Georgia Tech and Georgia will continue their baseball rivalry at Russ Chandler Stadium Wednesday, meeting for the 349th time in history. The Bulldogs own a 196-150-2 edge in a series that dates to April 21, 1898 … Georgia holds the upper hand in games played in Athens, with a 111-51 leads … Tech has won the last two regular season games played at Foley Field (2008, 2009), but the Bulldogs defeated the Jackets in the 2008 NCAA Athens Regional … The two teams split wins in 2009, with Tech winning 10-6 on April 14 in Athens, before Georgia defeated the Jackets 7-5 at Turner Field.
The Yellow Jackets are 33-27 against the Bulldogs since Danny Hall’s arrival in 1994.
Last Meeting:
Sophomore Jacob Esch drew a bases-loaded walk to break a 5-5 tie in the bottom of the eighth inning, and Andrew Robinson pitched a perfect ninth to lead Georgia Tech to a 6-5 win at Russ Chandler Stadium.
UP NEXT
Tech returns home to host 16th-ranked Clemson for a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference weekend series at Russ Chandler Stadium, April 16-18.
GEORGIA TECH vs. IN-STATE OPPONENTS
The state championships of college baseball in Georgia continue Wednesday, when Tech plays its ninth 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 7-1 mark against in-state foes in 2010. The Jackets have won two against Georgia Southern, two against Mercer, one against Georgia, one against Georgia State, and one against Kennesaw State. Tech’s only loss came at Kennesaw State on March 31.
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 105-34 (.755) record against its in-state foes. In 17 years under head coach Danny Hall, Tech is 149-51 (.745) against teams from Georgia.
QUICK NOTES
- GT holds the best record in the conference at 27-5, and leads the ACC in pitching with a 3.51 ERA, while third in hitting with a .334 average.
- Tech’s starting pitchers are 20-4, and have combined for 193 strikeouts in 197.0 innings. Deck McGuire leads the way with 60 strikeouts, the second most in the conference.
- McGuire ranks in the top five in the conference in five different categories: wins (5, T-1st), Innings pitched (59.2, 1st), strikeouts (60, 2nd), Opponent batting average (.217, 5th) and complete games (2, 1st).
- Tech is the only team in the ACC that has two pitchers with five wins (McGuire and Brandon Cumpton).
- The Tech bullpen is 7-1 on the year, and 5-for-5 in save opportunities.
- Senior Andrew Robinson has allowed just three runs (two earned) in 14 appearances out of the bullpen (20.0 innings) … He is 3-0 on the year and has recorded two saves.
- Sophomore Mark Pope is 4-0 as Tech’s midweek starter … He has struck out 40 batters and walked just two hitters in five starts.
- The Jackets have recorded five shutouts on the year, three shy of trying the school record of eight – held by the 1906, 1971 and 1997 teams. The five shutouts lead the conference.
- The Jackets have scored double digit runs 15 times this season.
- Tech has hit 70 home runs this season, an average of 2.2 per game. Seven different players have hit at least five homers, and four have hit at least 10.
- The Jackets have homered in 11 straight games, and 19 of their last 20. Tech has only had three games this season in which it didn’t go deep. Senior Tony Plagman leads the way with 12 round-trippers.
- Junior Derek Dietrich has started 149 consecutive games at shortstop, every game of his career.
- Dietrich leads the conference in total bases (94) and slugging percentage (.734), and has hit nine home runs in conference play alone.
- Senior outfielder Jay Dantzler has missed 14 games due to a fractured wrist … Junior right-handed pitcher Kevin Jacob (Tech’s closer) has been out for a month (March 13) with a sore shoulder.
PLAGMAN NAMED FINALIST FOR LOWE’S SENIOR CLASS AWARD
Georgia Tech senior first baseman Tony Plagman has been named one of 10 finalists for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award for baseball.
The 10 names will be placed on the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award baseball ballot for a nationwide vote beginning today (April 13) and concluding May 31. Fan balloting, available on the award’s official website, www.seniorclassaward.com, will be combined with votes from coaches, media and sponsors to determine the recipient of the award.
Plagman is currently batting .355 with 12 home runs and 42 RBI, and has helped the fifth-ranked Yellow Jackets to a 27-5 start this season. The Alpharetta, Ga. native has started at first base all four years on the Flats, having played in 205 career games.
LEONIDA ADDED TO BENCH AWARD WATCH LIST
Georgia Tech junior catcher Cole Leonida has been added to the watch list for the 2010 Coleman Company-Johnny Bench Award delivered by Papa John’s Pizza.
The Bench Award is given annually to the top catcher in NCAA Division I baseball.
A native of Aurora, Colo., Leonida is batting .344 with nine doubles, one triple, seven home runs and 38 RBI in his first season as Tech’s No. 1 starter behind the plate. Leonida has been a work-horse for the fifth-ranked Yellow Jackets in 2010, starting all 32 of the team’s games while catching in 29 of them.
