April 15, 2002
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ATLANTA–Georgia Tech, the nation’s fifth-ranked team according to USA Today/Baseball Weekly, concludes its midweek home-and-home series with SEC-foe Auburn at Russ Chandler Stadium on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The Yellow Jackets defeated the Tigers, 9-5, last Tuesday night in Auburn. A live radio broadcasts for Tuesday’s game 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 30-5 overall and 7-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference after splitting the first two games at Maryland last weekend, while the outcome of the third game (Tech led 12-1 in the 7th inning) will be determind by the league office. The Yellow Jackets had a 12-game winning streak snapped on Saturday night, but Tech has won 17 of its last 19 contests dating back to mid-March. Auburn enters Tuesday’s game with a 25-13 overall mark and a 7-8 record in the SEC after dropping two of three games at Ole Miss last weekend.
The Tech offense is led by shortstop Victor Menocal, who leads the team in batting (.410), hits (59), doubles (12) and runs (35). Oufielder Jeremy Slayden leads the team with 11 homers, while catcher Tyler Parker has a team-best 38 RBI. As a team, Tech is batting .321 and averaging nearly nine runs per game. The pitching corps is led by a duo of sophomores in southpaw Kyle Bakker (9-0, 2.72 ERA) and righty Brian Burks (6-2, 2.63 ERA, 3 saves).
Following Tuesday’s game against Auburn, the Yellow Jackets travel to Florida State for a three-game ACC series this weekend.
SERIES VS. AUBURN
Georgia Tech and Auburn have met on 217 previous occasions in a series that began in 1897, making it the second longest series in Tech history behind only Georgia. The Tigers lead the all-time series, 112-100-5, although Tech leads 59-45-2 in games played in Atlanta.
The two teams are playing a regular season home-and-home series for the for just the second time after not playing in each school’s home park since 1989. Last year Tech and Auburn split the series with each school winning at their home park. Auburn took a 4-0 win at Plainsman Park behind a combined four-hitter from Hayden Glimmo, Levale Speigner and Brandon Luna, while Tech answered with a 11-1 win at Russ Chandler Stadium behind a strong 8-inning performance from then-freshman Kyle Bakker.
Last Tuesday in Auburn, the Yellow Jackets downed the Tigers, 9-5. Auburn freshman Arnold Hughey held Tech to one run through the first five innings before the Yellow Jackets roughed up the Tigers’ bullpen for seven runs in the sixth inning.
SHORT HOPS
* Through 36 games, head coach Danny Hall has used 33 different starting lineups.
* Tech is currently leads the ACC in team ERA (3.45). 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 6-2 in games decided by one run and 13-2 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 83-for-101 (82.2%) on the season. Tech stole 68 bases during the entire 2002 season.
* Tech is stealing an average of 2.31 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 85 batters in 320.2 innings (2.4 per 9 IP).
* 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.
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 6-2 in one-run games and 13-2 in games decided by three runs or less.
BEST RECORD AFTER 36 GAMES
Georgia Tech owns a 31-5 record after 36 games, tied for the best record in school history though that number of games. Listed below are Tech’s best record through 33 games:
BEST GEORGIA TECH RECORDS AFTER 36 GAMES . . .
Record Year Next Game1. 31-5 2002 ???2. 31-5 1997 1-0 (32-5)3. 30-6 1971 1-0 (31-6)4. 29-7 1994 1-0 (30-7)5. 28-8 1990 0-1 (28-9) 28-8 1987 1-0 (29-8)7. 26-9-1 1985 0-1 (26-10-1)
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.) 523. Khalil Greene (CU, 1999-pres.) 51 Ryan Earey (UNC, 1998-00) 51 Tim LaVigne (UVA, 1997-00) 51
HOME SWEET HOME
Georgia Tech has opened its new ballpark in grand fashion, posting a perfect 20-0 record in the new Russ Chandler Stadium this season. In those home games, the Yellow Jackets are batting .337 and averaging 9.3 runs per game. The Tech pitching staff has a 2.75 ERA and is holding opponents to just a .248 batting average.
Dating back to the 2001 season, Tech currently owns an 25-game winning streak. Tech’s last loss at home was a 6-2 decision to Florida State on April 29, 2001.
BEST HOME STARTS TO A SEASON . . .1. 28-0 19902. 21-0 19913. 20-0 20024. 12-0 19835. 11-0 1999
ATTENDANCE RECORDS FALL
Georgia Tech has opened the newly-rebuilt Russ Chandler Stadium for the 2002 season, and the fans have made their way through the turnstiles in record numbers thus far this spring.
An opening day record crowd of 1,814 attended the first game at the new Russ Chandler Stadium on Feb. 15 against Tennessee Tech. A total 4,828 fans attended the three-game series, making it the largest three-game attendance for a series before April in Georgia Tech history. It was the second-largest three-game attendance figure for a non-conference series in school history.
A Chandler Stadium regular-season single game crowd of 4,264 attended Tech’s game versus Georgia on Mar. 27. That marked the second highest single-game attendance in Tech history (4,468 vs Southern California in the 2000 NCAA Atlanta Super Regional).
