April 14, 2003
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ATLANTA–Georgia Tech, ranked fifth in the nation’s by Collegiate Baseball, hosts Georgia Southern for a two-game midweek series on Tuesday at 7 p.m. and Wednesday at 4 p.m. Tuesday’s game will be televised regionally by Comcast Sports Southeast (cable channel 45 in Atlanta), while both games of the series will be carried by WREK-Radio (91.1 FM in Atlanta). Live statistics and the radio broadcasts will be also available on the internet at www.ramblinwreck.com.
The series with Georgia Southern opens a six-game homestand for the Yellow Jackets, who will host Wake Forest for three games this weekend and host Georgia on Wednesday of next week.
GEORGIA TECH UPDATE (28-6, 8-1 ACC)
Georgia Tech has won five straight games to improve to 28-6 overall, and the Yellow Jackets currently stand in first place in the ACC with a 8-1 league mark after sweeping three games from Duke last weekend in Durham. Tech’s 17-0 start to the season eclipsed the previous school record of a 16-0 start in 1987.
The Yellow Jackets have been on an offensive tear over the last 19 games, scoring 160 runs on 202 hits over that stretch (10.7 runs per game). Tech scored 33 runs on 54 hits in the three game series at Duke last weekend.
Tech has belted 56 home runs this season (averaging 1.65 per game after hitting 0.97 per game in 2002). Offensive leaders include SS Tyler Greene (.368-7-32), C Mike Nickeas (.367-6-30), LF Matt Murton (.348-11-35), 1B Clifton Remole (.347-2-24), RF Jeremy Slayden (.320-4-22) and DH Micah Owings (.307-11-30).
The Georgia Tech pitching staff owns a 3.58 team ERA, including a 7-3 record, nine saves and a 3.65 ERA from the Tech bullpen. Opponents are batting .238 against Tech pitching this season. Last weekend at Duke, Tech’s starting rotation of Owings (5-1, 3.76), Kyle Bakker (6-0, 3.75) and Chris Goodman (5-1, 4.09) allowed just two runs in 20 IP.
GEORGIA SOUTHERN UPDATE (21-14, 10-7 SoCon)
Georgia Southern is currently 21-14 overall and 10-7 in the Southern Conference after winning two of three games against Wofford last weekend. The Eagles are batting .290 as a team and own a team ERA of 4.12. RHP Brian Rogers (2-4, 6.35) is the scheduled starter on Tuesday night in the series opener, while RHP Brian Harrison (3-3, 4.76) is set to start the second game of the series on Wednesday afternoon.
GEORGIA TECH VS. GEORGIA SOUTHERN
GEORGIA TECH LEADS, 64-20
Georgia Tech leads Georgia Southern, 64-20, in a series that dates to 1947. The Yellow Jackets have won 19 straight games in the series dating back to the 1998 season, and 26 of 28 games dating back to 1996. Tech’s 19-game win streak over Georgia Southern is tied for the longest against any one opponent in school history.
Tech owns a 36-10 record against Georgia Southern in games played in Atlanta, including nine straight wins over the Eagles at Russ Chandler Stadium.
The Yellow Jackets won a pair of games over the Eagles earlier this season in Statesboro, 8-1 and 8-3, in a doubleheader on Feb. 15. In the first game, Kyle Bakker held GSU to one run in six innings, and freshman shortstop Tyler Greene hit a home run in his first collegiate at bat. In game two, Eric Patterson and Jeremy Slayden both hit home runs, and freshman Micah Owings worked 3.1 innings of scoreless and hitless relief to earn his first collegiate win.
Georgia Tech is 30-8 against Georgia Southern under head coach Danny Hall, the most wins for the Tech skipper against any opponent.
STARTING PITCHER NOTES
Tuesday: ANDREW KOWN (RHP) 2-1, 3.21 ERA
Sophomore Andrew Kown will make his fourth start of the season on Tuesday in the opener of the Georgia Southern series. Kown is 2-1 with a 3.21 ERA in 28.0 innings (eight appearances) in 2003. Kown, who has split time between the weekend rotation and the bullpen, will be making his first start since Mar. 29 at Miami.
Kown, who saw very limited action as a freshman last spring, has been very impressive thus far this season. He has issued just six walks and struck out 22 batters, and opponents are batting just .221 against the 6-6 right hander.
Kown is 2-1 in three previous starts in 2003. He worked six shutout innings and allowed just three hits against Campbell on Mar. 5 in a 3-1 Georgia Tech victory. On Mar. 22 against Maryland, Kown worked six innings and allowed two runs. He suffered his first career defeat at Miami on Mar. 29, allowing four runs (only one of which was earned) in 1.2 innings.
Kown has never faced Georgia Southern in his collegiate career.
Kown Game-by-Game in 20032003 Opp. S/R W/L IP H R ER BB SO NP2/19 Mercer R - 2.0 3 1 1 0 3 322/23 Armstrong Atl. R - 2.0 1 1 0 1 3 433/5 Campbell S W 6.0 3 0 0 0 5 713/9 Rutgers R - 1.0 3 3 3 0 1 253/15 Kent State R S 3.2 1 0 0 0 4 353/22 Maryland S W 6.0 6 2 2 2 1 813/29 Miami S L 1.2 2 4 1 3 1 344/5 North Carolina R - 5.2 4 3 3 0 4 82
Wednsday: JASON NEIGHBORGALL (RHP) 3-0, 3.20 ERA
Highly heralded freshman Jason Neighborgall will get the starting nod on Wednesday afternoon against Georgia Southern. Neighborgall has spent the first three weeks of March as Tech’s No. 3 weekend starter before moving to a midweek starting role.
Neighborgall will be making his sixth start and 10th appearance in 2003 on Wednesday night. He made his collegiate debut and his first career start on Feb. 19 at Mercer where he worked three shutout innings in a designated staff day in Tech’s 9-1 win. Neighborgall improved to 2-0 with a five-inning effort against George Washington (Mar. 2) when he allowed just one run.
Neighborgall’s snapped a string of two subpar starts with a fine effort on Mar. 25 against Mecer (6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 5 K). He has been rather impressive thus far this season, holding opponents to a .207 batting average and allowing just two extra base hits in 25.1 innings of work.
The hard-throwing right hander regularly throws in the mid to upper 90’s. Touted as one of the top high school pitchers in the country last season, Neighborgall was a seventh-round draft pick of the Boston Red Sox in 2002 but elected to enroll in Georgia Tech instead.
Neighborgall Game-by-Game in 2003003 Opp. S/R W/L IP H R ER BB SO NP2/19 Mercer S W 3.0 2 0 0 1 2 452/23 Armstrong Atl. R - 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 63/2 G. Washington S W 5.0 4 1 1 2 1 713/9 Rutgers S - 5.0 3 2 2 5 3 693/16 Kent State S - 3.0 2 1 1 5 5 743/22 Maryland R - 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 103/25 Mercer S W 6.0 4 1 1 2 5 823/29 Miami R - 0.1 1 3 3 1 0 204/12 Duke R - 1.0 2 1 1 2 1 30
OFFENSE HEATS UP IN LAST 15 GAMES
After hitting .277 as a team through the first 19 games of the season, Georgia Tech’s offense has finally started to produce at a level that was expected in the Yellow Jackets’ last 15 games against Maryland, Mercer, Miami, Winthrop, North Carolina, Georgia State and Duke.
The Yellow Jackets have hit .354 (202-for-571) in the last 15 games to raise their team batting average more than 35 points. Tech is averaging 10.7 runs per game over the last 15 games, and the Yellow Jackets scored in 74 of their 128 innings at bat (57.8%).
The Yellow Jackets hit .330 in 2002, .347 in 2001 and .342 in 2000. In fact, Tech has never hit lower than .306 as a team since Danny Hall became the school’s head coach in 1994, and the Yellow Jackets have hit better than .320 as a team in seven of his nine years at the helm of the program.
Georgia Tech Offensive ComparisonRange Avg. AB R H RBI R/gameFirst 19 games .277 649 131 180 118 6.9Last 15 games .354 571 160 202 139 10.7
VERSUS THE STATE OF GEORGIA
Georgia Tech is 6-0 against teams from the state of Georgia in 2003, and Tech posted a 13-1 mark against its in-state rivals during the 2002 season. Tech is 2-0 against Georgia Southern and Mercer, and 1-0 against Armstrong Atlantic State and Georgia State this year.
Since 1999, Georgia Tech owns a 48-8 (.857) record against its in-state foes. The Yellow Jackets are 90-25 (.782) against teams from Georgia in 10 years under head coach Danny Hall.
LONGEST WIN STREAK VS. ONE OPPONENT
Georgia Tech has won 19 consecutive games against Georgia Southern dating back to 1998. The current 19-game winning streak is tied for the longest win streak against any one opponent in school history. Listed below are Tech’s longest win streaks against one opponent:
Longest Win Streaks vs One OpponentOpponent Streak First LastEast Tenn. State 19 games 3/18/67 currentGeorgia Southern 19 games 2/13/99 currentGeorgia State 18 games 5/4/80 4/20/83Hillsdale 17 games 3/29/68 4/3/78Tennessee 16 games 4/29/53 4/29/64
ON THE ROAD AGAIN . . .
After opening the season with six straight games away from home, Georgia Tech played 16 of its next 17 games at home. Three weeks ago, the Yellow Jackets began a stretch of three straight weekends on the road (at Miami, North Carolina and Duke). Tech played nine of 11 games away from home during that three week strectch, but the Yellow Jackets open a six-game homestand this week with Georgia Southern, Wake Forest and Georgia.
VERSUS NCAA REGIONAL FOES
Georgia Tech owns an 10-6 record this spring against teams that played in the 2002 NCAA Regionals. The Yellow Jackets are 3-0 against George Washington, 2-0 against Georgia Southern, 2-1 against Kent State and North Carolina, 1-1 against Auburn and 0-3 against Miami. Tech has 15 more games on the regular season schedule against postseason teams.
HOME RUNS COMING AT BLISTERING PACE
Georgia Tech has hit 56 home runs as a team in 34 games in 2003, averaging 1.65 home runs per game. Last season Tech hit 66 home runs in 68 games (0.97 home runs per game). The school record for home runs is 119, which was accomplished in 65 games during the 1987 season (1.83 per game).
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 16-2 at home in 2003.
Tech has been especially formidable at Russ Chandler Stadium over the last two 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 52-6 (.895) in the new Russ Chandler Stadium.
