May 13, 2010
Live TC: CSS
Live Stats: RamblinWreck.com
Live Audio: WREK 91.1 FM
Twitter Updates: Twitter.com/gt_baseball
Promotions: Friday – Free Danny Hall T-shirts
Saturday – Free 1985 ACC Champion Commemorative Posters
ATLANTA – Georgia Tech’s sixth-ranked baseball team will close out its home conference slate with a crucial three-game weekend series against No. 5 Miami at Russ Chandler Stadium. Game times are 7 p.m. Friday, 7 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. All three games will be televised live on CSS.
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS:
Friday, May 14 (7 p.m.) – Russ Chandler Stadium (Atlanta, Ga.)
Georgia Tech – Deck McGuire, Jr., RHP (6-3, 3.05 ERA, 90 K’s)
Miami – Jason Santana, Sr., RHP (5-2, 4.83 ERA, 60 K’s)
Saturday, May 15 (7 p.m.) – Russ Chandler Stadium (Atlanta, Ga.)
Georgia Tech – Mark Pope, So., RHP (7-0, 3.73 ERA, 59 K’s)
Miami – Chris Hernandez, Jr., LHP (7-2, 3.04 ERA, 76 K’s)
Sunday, May 16 (1 p.m.) – Russ Chandler Stadium (Atlanta, Ga.)
Georgia Tech – Jed Bradley, So., LHP (8-2, 3.75 ERA, 82 K’s)
Miami – David Gutierrez, Sr., RHP (5-0, 3.86 ERA, 39 K’s)
SPECIAL EVENTS THIS WEEKEND
With multiple events occurring on the Georgia Tech campus this weekend, fans are encouraged to park at either Peter’s Parking Deck (located on fourth street) or Klaus Parking Deck (located on Ferst Drive).
On Saturday, the Yellow Jackets will welcome back members of the 1985 baseball team in a pre-game ceremony beginning at 6:50 p.m. The first 1,000 fans through the gates will receive a free commemorative poster of the 1985 team. The Jackets will wear throw-back uniforms from the 1985 season during the game.
Tech will wrap up the weekend Sunday afternoon, recognizing the 2010 seniors, Jay Dantzler, Sean Devine, Jason Garofalo, Patrick Long, Tony Plagman and Andrew Robinson.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
The entire series will be televised live on CSS this weekend. Matt Stewart (play-by-play) and Randy Carroll (Color) will have the call. 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.
SERIES PREVIEW
No. 6 Georgia Tech (39-9, 17-7 ACC) is one-game back in the ACCCoastal standings, and will look to gain ground on currentco-leader Miami (36-11, 18-6 ACC) … The Hurricanes currentlyshare the Coastal division lead with No.1 Virginia … Both teamsrank in the top three in the ACC in pitching … Tech’s Deck McGuire and Miami’s Chris Hernandez each have 25 careerwins.
Winners of four straight, the Jackets are ranked as high as No. 6in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll.
Miami returns 19 letterwinners from a 2009 squad that went 38-22overall (18-12 ACC, 3rd/Coastal) and reached the NCAA GainesvilleRegional … Ranked as high as No. 5 in the nation (CollegiateBaseball), the Hurricanes have won seven straight and 13 of theirlast 15 games … Miami swept a two-game series with BarryUniversity last weekend … Hurricanes’ catcher Yasmani Grandalleads the conference in batting average (.421) and on-basepercentage (.545).
SERIES HISTORY
Miami leads the all-time series over Georgia Tech 46-24-2 … The Jackets are 11-17 against the Canes on the Flats, and will attempt to win their first home series over Miami since 2006.
Last Meeting:
Tech went 2-2 against the Hurricanes in 2009, winning two out of three in Coral Gables during the regular season, before falling in the opening game of the 2009 ACC Tournament, 8-6, in Durham, N.C.
UP NEXT
The Jackets will close out the midweek schedule by hosting Georgia State Tuesday at 6 p.m., before heading to Boston College next weekend for the regular season finale.
QUICK NOTES
Georgia Tech ranks third in the ACC in batting (.328) andpitching (.370 ERA), while leading the pack in home runs with 98and sitting second in RBI with 423.
The Jackets rank among the top 10 in the nation in sevencategories: Scoring (9.6, 7th), Runs (461.0, 4th), Home runs (98,2nd), Triples (23, 8th), Slugging percentage (.587, 2nd), Walks(255.0, 8th) and W/L percentage (.813, 6th).
Junior Jeff Rowland ranks in the top 10 in two categories alone: Runs(65, 9th) and Triples (7.0, 8th).
Tech’s starting pitchers have combined for 282 strikeouts in 286.1innings. Deck McGuire leads the way with 90 strikeouts, the second mostin the conference.
McGuire ranks in the top five in the conference in four differentcategories: Innings pitched (85.2, 1st), Strikeouts (90, 2nd),Opponent batting average (.232, 5th) and Complete games (2,T-1st).
Sophomore Mark Pope is 7-0 in eight starts on the season … He hasstruck out 59 batters and walked just seven in 60.1 innings.
Sophomore Jed Bradley is the only pitcher in the ACC with eight wins onthe season … Bradley 4-0 in his last four starts, holding a 3.60ERA with 28 strikeouts in the four outings (25.0 IP).
The Tech bullpen is 8-2 on the year, and 10-for-10 in saveopportunities.
Senior Andrew Robinson has made a team-leading 21 appearances out ofthe bullpen (27.1 innings) … He is 4-0 on the year and hasrecorded five saves.
Tech has hit a home run in 41 of the 48 games this season. Eightdifferent players have gone yard at least six times, and five haverecorded double-digit home run totals.
The Jackets ran a streak of 18 straight games with a home runbefore it was snapped on April 24. Senior Tony Plagman and sophomore Matt Skole are tied for third in the ACC with 15 round-trippersthis season.
Plagman leads the conference in total bases with 131.
Senior outfielder Jay Dantzler returned to the lineup last Friday for the firsttime since fracturing his wrist on March 21. After missing 27 gameswith the injury, Dantzler batted .300 with a home run and three RBIagainst UIC last weekend.
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YELLOW JACKETS IN THE RPI
Georgia Tech enters the weekend ranked No. 11 in the nation in the latest Pseudo-RPI (source: BoydsWorld.com). (The NCAA releases its RPI just once a week, and the Yellow Jackets are listed No. 11 in the official RPI released on May 11). The Atlantic Coast Conference is well represented in the most updated RPI, with five teams ranked among the top 20 in the nation. Virginia, ranked No. 3 in the country in the RPI, leads all conference teams while Miami (9), Georgia Tech (11), Florida State (12) and Clemson (13) all rank in the top-20. Only two ACC teams stand outside of the top-75 in the RPI.
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PAST MEETS PRESENT THIS WEEKEND
The two head coaches meeting this weekend have combined to lead Georgia Tech to its last 1,233 victories. How is that possible, you ask? Prior to Danny Hall’s arrival in 1994, the Yellow Jackets were coached by Jim Morris, who led Tech to a 504-244-1 record from 1982-1993. Morris set a school record with 504 victories during his tenure, but that mark was eclipsed by Hall on March 27, 2005. Ironically, the opposing head coach in that game was none other than Morris himself, whose Hurricane team lost 11-10 to the Yellow Jackets that afternoon.
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LIGHTS OUT WHEN IT’S TIME TO CLOSE
The Jackets have been solid this season when it comes to closing out games. Tech is 31-1 when leading after six innings, and a perfect 34-0 when leading after the seventh. The reason being is the Tech bullpen, which is a perfect 10-for-10 in save opportunities.
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PLAGMAN JOINS ELITE 200-CLUB
With his 200th-career RBI and 200th-career run scored coming last weekend against Illinois-Chicago, senior Tony Plagman became only the second player in school history to have at least 200 hits, 200 runs scored and 200 RBI. The Only other Georgia Tech player to ever achieve this feat is former All-American catcher Jason Varitek. In fact, Plagman and Varitek are the only two players to record 200 runs scored and 200 RBI in school history.
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1985 ACC CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM TO BE HONORED SATURDAY
Georgia Tech’s 1985 ACC Championship team will be honored prior to Georgia Tech’s game against Miami on Saturday.. Known as the “Joltin’ Jackets”, the ’85 team won the school’s first-ever ACC Baseball Title, the first of four-straight for the Yellow Jackets.
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KINKELAAR NEARING DANCING STARS OF ATLANTA COMPETITION
Georgia Tech baseball assistant coach Tom Kinkelaar is a few days away from his performance in the “Dancing Stars of Atlanta” competition on Sunday, May 16 at The Foundry at Puritan Mill. Kinkelaar is competing to raise money for Alzheimer’s, and has raised $5,063 as of May 2.
Information on the event and how to make a contribution in Kinkelaar’s name can be found online at www.dancingstarsofatlanta.kintera.org or by contacting Jeanne Hastings at 404.728.6046 or Jeanne.hastings@alz.org.
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PLAGMAN A LOWE’S SENIOR CLASS AWARD FINALIST
On April 13, Tony Plagman was named a finalist for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award for baseball. The award recognizes NCAA Division I senior student-athletes who excel both on and off the diamond and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: classroom, character, community and competition.
A portion of the vote is decided by fans, who can log onto www.seniorclassaward.com daily (through May 31) to vote, or they can text B9 to 74567.
