April 4, 2002
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
ATLANTA — Georgia Tech, the nation’s sixth-ranked team according to Collegiate Baseball and USA Today/Baseball Weekly, hosts Duke for a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series this weekend at Russ Chandler Stadium in the Yellow Jackets’ first home league games of the season. First pitch for Friday and Saturday is set for 7 p.m., while Sunday’s contest will begin at 1:30 p.m. Live radio broadcasts for the entire series is available on WREK-Radio (91.1 FM in Atlanta) and on the internet at www.ramblinwreck.com, and live scoring and boxscores for all of Georgia Tech’s games is be available at www.ramblinwreck.com.
The Yellow Jackets stand at 24-4 overall and 3-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference following six consecutive wins over Georgia, NC State and Georgia Southern. The Blue Devils enter the weekend with a 17-13 overall mark, and are 0-3 in the ACC after being swept by Virginia in Durham two weeks ago.
Georgia Tech is a perfect 16-0 in the newly rebuilt Russ Chandler Stadium in 2002, and the Yellow Jackets have a 21-game home winning streak dating back to the 2001 season.
The Tech offense is led by shortstop Victor Menocal, who leads the team in batting (.426), hits (49), doubles (9) and runs (29). Oufielder Jeremy Slayden leads the team with eight homers, while catcher Tyler Parker has a team-best 32 RBI. As a team, Tech is batting .319 and averaging nearly nine runs per game. The pitching corps is led by a duo of sophomores in southpaw Kyle Bakker (7-0, 2.41 ERA) and righty Brian Burks (6-2, 2.44 ERA, 3 saves).
SERIES VS. DUKE
Georgia Tech leads Duke, 56-22, in a series that dates back to 1903. The Yellow Jackets own a 30-12 record against the Blue Devils in games played in Atlanta. Last year, Tech took three of four games in the season series. The Yellow Jackets won two of three during the regular season series in Durham, and then claimed a 16-2 win in the first round of the ACC Tournament in Fort Mill, S.C. Two years ago in Atlanta, however, Duke won two of three from Tech to claim their first series win in Atlanta since 1981.
Under head coach Danny Hall, the Yellow Jackets are 21-7 against the Blue Devils.
ON THE HILL . . .
* As a staff, Georgia Tech starting pitchers are a collective 19-2 with a 2.57 ERA in 28 games this season, while walking just 1.4 batters per nine innings. Over the last three games, Tech starters Brian Burks, Kyle Schmidt and Jeff Watchko have not issued a walk in 24 innings of work.
*Sophomore left hander Kyle Bakker (7-0, 2.41 ERA) will start the first game of the series on Friday night against Duke, making his eighth consecutive series opening start.
* Bakker was Tech’s No. 3 starter for much of the stretch run of the 2001 season before being sidelined with stiffness in his left arm for all of the Yellow Jackets’ postseason games.
* The big southpaw, who is the tallest player in the ACC at 6-9, has taken over as the No. 1 starter for Tech in 2002, and he has opened the season with consecutive wins over Georgia Southern, Tennessee Tech, Coastal Carolina and Winthrop – all teams that won games in the NCAA Tournament in 2001 – in addition to Georgia State, Gardner-Webb and NC State.
* In 13 career starts, Bakker is 11-1 with a 2.45 ERA in 88.0 IP (24 ER). His list of victories over the last two years includes Georgia Southern (twice), Auburn, Clemson, Florida State, Tennessee Tech, Coastal Carolina and Winthrop, all teams that won at least one game in the NCAA Regionals in 2001.
* Saturday’s and Sunday’s starters are TBA.
MENOCAL EYES HITTING STREAK RECORD
Senior shortstop Victor Menocal carries a 26-game hitting streak into this weekend’s series against Duke, as he has hit safely in every game since failing to record a hit in the second game of the year.
Longest GEORGIA TECH Hitting Streaks:28 games, Carlton Fleming, 199027 games, Jay Payton, 199327 games, Richard Lewis, 200026 games, Victor Menocal, 2002
SHORT HOPS
* Through 28 games, head coach Danny Hall has used 25 different starting lineups.
* Tech currently leads the ACC in team ERA (3.19). The Yellow Jackets have never lead the conference in that category since joining the ACC in 1980.
* Tech is a perfect 16-0 at the new Russ Chandler Stadium in 2002, outscoring its opponents 157-53. Dating back to last season, the Yellow Jackets currently own a 21-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 4-1 in games decided by one run and 9-1 in games decided by three runs or less in 2002.
* Tech’s top three freshman pitchers – RHP Kyle Schmidt, LHP Jeff Kindel and LHP Drew Taylor – have a combined 1.91 ERA and 50 strikeouts in 47.0 innings. Schmidt currently leads the ACC in ERA (1.23) and strikeouts per nine innings (11.35)
* Georgia Tech opened the 2002 campaign with seven straight wins, the Yellow Jackets’ best start to a season since opening with a 10-0 record in 1997. The Tech record for most wins to start a season came in 1987 when the Yellow Jackets opened the season 16-0.
* 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 61-for-75 (81.3%) on the season. Tech stole 68 bases during the entire 2002 season.
* Tech is stealing an average of 2.17 bases per game, the best figure since averaging 2.21 stolen bases per game 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 57 batters in 251.1 innings (2.0 per 9 IP).
* Sophomore Kyle Bakker leads the Tech staff in K/BB ratio with 58 strikeouts and just nine walks in 56 innings. Bakker’s career K/BB ratio stands at 6.4 to 1.
* 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.
* Four freshmen – Eric Patterson (2B), Brandon Boggs (CF), Clifton Remole (1B) and Jeremy Slayden (DH) – were in the starting lineup for opening day. Mike Nickeas (3B) started the second game of the series at Georgia Southern, raising the total number of freshmen to start in 2002 to five. A total of 15 freshmen have seen game action so far this season, while seven different rookie position players have made at least one start.
OPENING DAY IN THE BIGS
Seven Georgia Tech alumni were on Major League rosters on Opening Day, 2002. The list includes: Kevin Brown (Dodgers), Doug Creek (Devil Rays), Nomar Garciaparra (Red Sox), Jay Payton (Mets), Jason Varitek (Red Sox) and Kris Wilson (Royals, disabled list) as well as Bruce Chen (Mets), who never played baseball at Tech but attended the school in the offseason. Varitek and Payton both hit home runs on opening day.
PITCHING STAFF SHOWS IMPROVEMENT
Despite featuring eight freshman and two other veterans who have never pitched in college prior to this season (Victor Mencoal and Chris Goodman), the Georgia Tech pitching staff has been very impressive thus far during the 2002 season. Under first-year pitching coach Bobby Moranda, Tech leads the ACC in ERA (3.34) and walks per nine innings (2.2) while ranking second in opponent batting average (.237). Below is a yearly comparison of Tech’s pitching staffs in the Danny Hall era:
Year W-L ERA Hits/9 BB/9 SO/91994 50-16 3.84 8.37 3.84 8.281995 38-22 6.03 10.22 5.14 7.981996 40-24 5.13 9.68 4.32 8.421997 46-15 4.80 9.31 4.57 8.141998 41-22 4.94 9.33 4.44 10.001999 38-20 5.27 10.45 4.78 8.582000 50-16 4.32 8.76 3.67 7.342001 41-20 4.52 9.74 3.60 7.342002 24-4 3.19 8.34 2.04 7.73
HOME SWEET HOME
Georgia Tech has opened its new ballpark in grand fashion, posting a perfect 16-0 record in the new Russ Chandler Stadium this season. In those home games, the Yellow Jackets are batting .341 and averaging 10.3 runs per game. The Tech pitching staff has a 2.62 ERA and is holding opponents to just a .238 batting average.
Dating back to the 2001 season, Tech currently owns an 21-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. 16-0 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).
WIN NO. 500 AT THE “RUSTY C”
Georgia Tech won its 500th game at Russ Chandler Stadium on Apr. 2 vs. Georgia Southen with a 4-3, 10-inning victory. The Yellow Jackets now have an all-time record of 501-125 (.800) at Russ Chandler Stadium. Originally built in 1985, the Yellow Jackets had a 485-125 record at the old facility and now own a perfect 16-0 mark in the new Russ Chandler Stadium.
