May 19, 2010
Live Stats: RamblinWreck.com
Live Audio: WREK 91.1 FM
Twitter Updates: Twitter.com/gt_baseball
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS:
Thursday, May 20 (1:30 p.m.) – Commander Shea Field (Chestnut Hill, Mass.)
Georgia Tech – Deck McGuire, Jr., RHP (7-3, 2.91 ERA, 99 K’s)
Boston College – Pat Dean, Jr., LHP (5-1, 3.76 ERA, 51 K’s)
Friday, May 21 (1:30 p.m.) – Commander Shea Field (Chestnut Hill, Mass.)
Georgia Tech – Mark Pope, So., RHP (7-1, 4.13 ERA, 62 K’s)
Boston College – John Leonard, Jr., RHP (2-2, 6.04 ERA, 22 K’s)
Saturday, May 22 (1 p.m.) – Commander Shea Field (Chestnut Hill, Mass.)
Georgia Tech – Jed Bradley, So., LHP (9-2, 3.81 ERA, 87 K’s)
Boston College – Taylor Lasko, So., RHP (3-1, 4.87 ERA, 35 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.
SERIES PREVIEW
Georgia Tech’s sixth-ranked baseball team wraps up the regularseason at Boston College (28-24, 13-14 ACC) with a shot atcapturing the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season title …Game times are at 1:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, and 1 p.m.Saturday at Commander Shea Field … The Yellow Jackets (41-10,19-8 ACC) need to win all three games this weekend, and hope for aMiami sweep of Virginia, in order to finish atop the conferencestandings. Winners in seven of their last eight games, the Jacketsare ranked as high as No. 6 in the national rankings (ESPN/USAToday Coaches poll) released Monday … Tech has reached 40 wins ina season for the 25th time in school history, and 13th time in 17years under head coach Danny Hall.
Boston College returns 21 letterwinners from a 2009 squad that went39-26 overall (13-15 in the ACC) and reached the NCAA Austinregional … The Eagles have dropped five of their last sixconference games, but remain in third place in the Atlanticdivision standings … The squad defeated Dartmouth 10-4 Sunday,but fell by a 17-9 score to St. John’s on Tuesday … BC leads theACC in fielding percentage at .979, having committed just 42 errorson the season … The Eagles have turned an impressive 60 doubleplays on the year.
SERIES HISTORY
The two teams played each other on just 11 occasions since firs meeting in 2006, with Georgia Tech holding a 7-4 nod in the all-time series … Tech is 4-2 against the Eagles in games played in Chestnut, Hill, sweeping the three-game series at Commander Shea Field back in 2008.
Last Meeting:
The Jackets won 5-4 in the lone regular season game played between the two in 2009 (the final two games were rained out), but the Eagles defeated Tech by a 7-3 score in the second game ACC Tournament in Durham, N.C.
UP NEXT
The Jackets head to the 2010 ACC Tournament next Wednesday through Sunday, May 26-30, at NewBridge Bank Park in Greensboro, N.C.
QUICK NOTES
Georgia Tech ranks third in the ACC in batting (.329) andpitching (.375 ERA), while leading the pack in home runs with 106and sitting second in RBI with 453.
Tech’s starting pitchers have combined for 307 strikeouts in 310.1innings. Deck McGuire leads the way with 99 strikeouts, tied for themost in the conference.
McGuire ranks in the top five in the conference in four differentcategories: Innings pitched (92.2, 1st), Strikeouts (99, T-1st),Wins (T-3rd) and Complete games (2, T-1st).
Sophomore Jed Bradley (9-2) is the only pitcher in the ACC with nine winson the season.
The Tech bullpen is 8-2 on the year, and a perfect 11-for-11 insave opportunities.
Senior Andrew Robinson has made a team-leading 22 appearances out ofthe bullpen (28.1 innings) … He is 4-0 on the year and hasrecorded six saves.
Tech has hit a home run in 45 of the 52 games this season. Eightdifferent players have gone yard at least six times, and six 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 is tied for the conference lead in home runs with18.br>
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YELLOW JACKETS IN THE RPI
Georgia Tech enters the weekend ranked No. 9 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. 10 in the official RPI released on May 18). The Atlantic Coast Conference is well represented in the most updated RPI, with five teams ranked among the top 25 in the nation. Virginia, ranked No. 2 in the country in the RPI, leads all conference teams while Miami (7), Georgia Tech (9), Florida State (13) and Clemson (22) all rank in the top 25. Only three ACC teams stand outside of the top-75 in the RPI.
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BALANCE OF POWER
For the second straight year and just the fifth time in school history, the Jackets have belted over 100 home runs. The team’s 106 runs are the second most in the nation. The amount is high, but the number of different players that have hit home runs is just as impressive. Thirteen different players have hit at least one home run, while six have gone yard at least 10 times. In 2009, the Jackets hit the second most home runs in school history with 111. It was the most since Hall’s arrival in 1994.
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MAKING A STATEMENT ON THE MOUND
The 2010 pitching staff could certainly be the best coach Hall has ever had in his 17 years at Georgia Tech. The Tech hurlers currently hold a 3.75 ERA, the 13th lowest ERA in the nation. It marks the first time a Tech team has had an ERA under 4.00 since 1994, Coach Hall’s first season on the Flats. If the numbers hold up, it would also be the lowest earned run average since the 1993 squad finished with a 3.13 ERA.
LIGHTS OUT WHEN IT’S TIME TO CLOSE
The Jackets have been solid this season when it comes to closing out games. Tech is 33-1 when leading after six innings, and a perfect 36-0 when leading after the seventh. The reason being is the Tech bullpen, which is a perfect 11-for-11 in save opportunities.
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GETTING HEALTHY AT THE RIGHT TIME
Senior outfielder Jay Dantzler and junior pitcher Kevin Jacob have each made remarkable returns to the field in the past two weeks. Dantzler, who missed 27 games after suffering a fractured wrist on March 20, has batted .429 (9-for-21) with a double, triple home run and 7 RBI in six games back. Dantzler has had at least one hit in all six games, and has had multiple hits in three straight games.
Last Friday, Jacob made his first appearance on the mound since March 13 (shoulder tendinitis). He fanned four batters, and allowed just one hit in 2.0 innings of relief against No. 5 Miami over the weekend. Jacob struck out the side on Friday, before pitching a scoreless eighth frame to setup Andrew Robinson for the save on Sunday.
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BRADLEY PACING THE CONFERENCE IN WINS
With a win over No. 5 Miami last Sunday, sophomore Jed Bradley, became the first pitcher in the ACC to record nine wins this season. Tech’s No. 3 weekend starter is currently 9-2 on the season, and is riding a five-game win streak. In his last five games, Bradley has struck out 33 batters in 31.0 innings. His 10.4 strikeouts per nine innings are the second most in the conference.
