Feb. 19, 2004
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ATLANTA–Winners of three straight games to open the 2004 season, fifth-ranked Georgia Tech (3-0) hosts Villanova (3-0) for a three-game series this weekend at Russ Chandler Stadium. The series begins on Friday at 4 p.m., and continues on Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m. each day.
The Yellow Jackets are coming off a 13-4 win over Savannah State on Wednesday, while the Wildcats opened their season with a three-game sweep of Norfolk State last weekend.
Tech returns eight of nine position starters and 20 letterwinners overall from the 2003 team that captured the Atlantic Coast Conference championship. Headlining that group are five players who were named to Baseball America’s preseason All-America team – P/DH Micah Owings (1st team), 2B Eric Patterson (1st team), RF Jeremy Slayden (1st team), C Mike Nickeas (2nd team) and SS Tyler Greene (2nd team).
Following this weekend’s series, the Yellow Jackets take the week off before traveling to Fullerton, Calif., for the Kia Baseball Bash (Georgia Tech, Cal State-Fullerton, Southern California and Oklahoma).
Game Coverage: Live statistics will be available on the internet at www.ramblinwreck.com.
LEADING OFF … NEWS & NOTES ON THE YELLOW JACKETS
*** Georgia Tech is ranked as high as No. 5 in the nation … 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 in a doubleheader at Georgia Southern last weekend. 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.
*** Georgia Tech and Villanova have met on just one previous occasion. The Wildcats defeated the Yellow Jackets 18-16 in 10 innings in the 1989 NCAA East Regional in Gainesville, Fla.
*** Through the first three games of the season, the Yellow Jackets are batting .325 as a team and averaging 11 runs per game. Tech has held its opponents to a .240 average and 4.67 runs per game. SS Tyler Greene leads the team with a .462 average, while LF Steven Blackwood and 2B Eric Patterson are each batting .385.
STARTING PITCHER NOTES
Friday: Micah Owings (RHP) 1-0, 1.25 ERA
Sophomore right-hander Micah Owings, a first-team preseason All-America selection by Baseball America, will start the series opener on Friday afternoon. Owings, who became Tech’s No. 1 starter over the final month of the 2003 season, will be making his 14th career start. He went seven innings and allowed one earned run in hist first start of the season at Georgia Southern last Sunday.
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: Brian Burks (RHP) 0-0, 6.75 ERA
Senior Brian Burks will get the starting assignment in the second game of the series against Villanova. A versatile and veteran member of the Tech pitching staff, Burks has made 75 career appearances including 17 starts and 58 relief stints.
For his career, Burks is 19-9 with 13 saves. He is currently ranked seventh in Tech history in both career saves (13) and appearances (75), and he is ranked third in school history in fewest walks per nine innings (2.40).
Sunday: Andrew Kown (RHP) 0-0, 0.00 ERA
Junior Andrew Kown will make his first start of the season in the series finale on Sunday after working four innings of scoreless relief (one hit, one walk, 4 K’s) last weekend at Georgia Southern. Kown has made five previous starts in his career, all coming last year, and he is 3-1 in those contests.
*** Villanova will start RHP Nick Allen (0-0, 3.38) on Friday, LHP Jake Wolff (1-0, 9.00) on Saturday, and RHP Kevin Mulvey (0-0, 7.36) on Sunday.
HOME, SWEET HOME
Georgia Tech has had great success at home in the history of Russ Chandler Stadium, winning better than 80% of its home games since the facility first opened in 1985. The Yellow Jackets are 1-0 at home in 2004.
Tech has been especially formidable at Russ Chandler Stadium over the last three seasons since the facility was torn down and rebuilt at a cost of $9.7 million. The Yellow Jackets won their first 22 games in their new ballpark in 2002, and Tech is 61-13 (.824) in the new Russ Chandler Stadium.
TECH PICKED FIRST IN ACC PRESEASON COACHES POLL
For the second consecutive season, the Atlantic Coast Conference’s nine head coaches selected Georgia Tech as the top pick to win the conference championship in 2004 with six first place votes and a total of 77 points. Florida State finished second with 61 points and one first place vote. Clemson finished in third place tallying 60 points and one first place vote. North Carolina filled the fourth place slot with 58 points, while NC State placed fifth in the balloting with 52 points. The Wolfpack was followed by Wake Forest (36) and Virginia (28), Duke (17) and Maryland (16).
