A 2011 Louisville Slugger All-America Second Team selection … Named a semifinalist for USA Baseball’s 2011 Golden Spikes Award … Named to the 2011 All-ACC First Team … A quarterfinalist for the 2011 College Baseball Hall of Fame National Pitcher of the Year … Was a 2011 Louisville Slugger Preseason All-America Third Team Selection … Named to the 2010 NCBWA preseason Stopper of the Year Watch List … Selected in the 17th round of the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft by the Atlanta Braves, but elected to enroll at Georgia Tech instead … His four career complete-game shutouts are a Georgia Tech modern day record … Has issued just 2.18 walks per nine innings, ranking as the second fewest in school history … His career ERA of 3.00 is the 10th lowest in the Tech record books.
2011
Named a Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week twice (March 7-13 and April 11-17) … Earned ACC Pitcher of the Week honors on three occasions (March 14-21, March 7-13 and April 11-17) … Went 11-4 with a 1.74 ERA (113.2 IP, 16 starts)… Allowed just 22 earned runs all season (28 total)… Tossed a conference-leading five complete games, three of them coming as shutouts … Had 13 quality starts on the season … His ERA was the third-lowest in the ACC, and the sixth lowest single-season average in school history … Ran a streak of 30 consecutive scoreless innings from Feb. 18 to March 18, a streak that spanned over five games … Pitched 36 2/3 straight innings without allowing an earned run at one point, a streak that spanned over six games … Had only one start last shorter than six innings, that start due to an injury … Issued just 1.91 walks per nine innings … Picked up the win in the season opener over Kent State by just giving up one earned run in 6.2 innings (2/18)…Began a streak of 4 straight shutouts by blanking St. John’s in the Tech victory (2/25)…Pitched complete games shutouts in back to back starts against Rutgers (3/4) and Maryland (3/11) … Allowed just three hits in eight shutout innings of fantastic pitching against NC State (3/18) to pick up his fifth win of the season … Finally surrendered an earned run after 36.2 innings without doing so, striking out a season-high nine batters against Miami (3/25) … Tossed his third complete game of the season, yielding just one earned run while striking out seven in a 9-2 defeat of Duke (4/1) … Lost for the first time all season after allowing four runs on seven hits in 7.2 innings against No. 1 Virginia … Held the Cavaliers to just one hit through the first six innings, but allowed his first home run of the season in the 7th … Pitched a complete game one-hit masterpiece at Wake Forest (4/15), striking out eight batters for his eighth win of the season … It was the first nine-inning one-hitter tossed by a Tech pitcher since the 1997 season … Did not allow a run in complete game against Boston College (4/22), striking out five and walking none … Earned win No. 10 on the year after scattering two runs over six innings against Illinois-Chicago (5/7) … Became the first pitcher in the ACC to reach 11 wins with seven strong innings against Virginia Tech (5/19).
2010
Flourished as Tech’s top mid-week starter … Posted a 3.78 ERA and 73 strikeouts to just 13 walks in 78.2 innings pitched … Went 8-1 overall with one save in 13 appearances … Was a perfect 7-0 in midweek games alone … His 1.49 walks allowed per nine innings ranked No. 1 in the ACC and No. 26 overall in the nation … Allowed just 37 runs all season, tying for the third fewest in the conference … Made his first career start, combining with freshman Luke Bard for a four-hit shutout, striking out seven batters in 6.0 innings at Georgia Southern (2/23) … Struck out nine batters against Georgia (3/16) in his first start in two-weeks, but did not receive a decision … Had a career-high 11 strikeouts against Georgia State, allowing just seven hits to improve to 3-0 on the season … Earned win No. 4 after scattering four hits over 8.0 innings against Kennesaw State (4/6) … Improved to 5-0 with 6.0 strong innings at Georgia (4/14) … Scattered two runs on 10 hits in 8.0 innings against Georgia Southern (4/20) … Improved to 7-0 after holding Georgia to two runs on seven hits in 7.0 innings at Turner Field (4/27) … Fanned nine batters in the process, carrying a no-hitter into the sixth inning before the Bulldogs broke it up on an infield single … Made his first relief appearance of the season at NC State, yielding just one hit in 3.0 innings of work for the ninth save of his career (5/2) … Only loss of the season came against No. 5 Miami after allowing five runs in 5.0 innings (5/15) … Pitched a complete-game shutout, the first of his career and the first for Georgia Tech since 2007, against Mercer in the NCAA Atlanta Regional (6/5) … Had 10 strikeouts while allowing just five hits and two walks in the outing.
2009
Tech’s primary closer … Made 25 appearances on the season, 18 of which were scoreless outings … Went 5-1 with eight saves on the season … Inherited 23 runners on the year, allowing just four to score … Didn’t allow a run in his last five appearances, owning a 0.69 ERA over his last ten game appearances … Picked up the win against Lipscomb (2/22) by working 1.1 innings, striking out two … Earned the first save of his career at Georgia Southern by facing the minimum through 2.0 innings … Picked up another save against Rutgers (2/28); entered the game with two outs and a runner on base, striking out the only batter he faced … Earned his third save in as many appearances after entering the game in the ninth inning against Maryland (3/6) – with no outs and the bases loaded, induced a double play and a weak ground ball by the two batters he faced to finish out the game … Picked up his second victory of the season in the series finale against the Terps (3/8) – entered a tie game with two outs and the bases loaded in the eighth inning, forcing a flyout before Tech scored three in the bottom of the frame … Earned his fourth save of the season with a clutch performance against Kennesaw State (3/11) … Earned his fifth save of the year by working a scoreless ninth inning to preserve Georgia Tech’s 10-9 win at Virginia Tech (3/20) … Entered the series opener vs. Miami (3/27) with the bases loaded to strike out Harold Martinez while picking up his sixth save of the season … Held the Hurricanes to one run in the ninth inning the following day (3/28) to earn save No. 7 in 2009 … Came on in the 10th inning against North Carolina (4/4), after the Jackets posted three runs in the bottom of the ninth, and faced just one over the minimum to earn his third win of the season … Forced an inning-ending groundout in the series opener against Virginia (4/10) to pick up his fourth win of the season … Came on with two outs and two on in the bottom of the eighth against Georgia (4/14) to retire the No. 1 Bulldogs’ top hitter Rich Poythress … Worked a scoreless inning in relief against Georgia State (4/15) … Tossed the final 1.2 innings against Presbyterian (5/2) to earn his fifth win of the season – entered a tied ballgame in the top of the ninth with runners on second and third and one out to strike out two of the next three batters to get out of the jam … Then worked a 1-2-3 10th inning before Jeff Rowland’s walk-off home run gave the Jackets the win … Struck out a career-high seven batters in five innings of relief for his seventh save of the season in an 8-4 win over Elon (5/31) in the NCAA Atlanta Regional.
High School
Four-year letterwinner for baseball coach Shane Amos at Walton High School … Honorable mention high school All-American by Louisville Slugger in 2008 … The 2008 Cobb County Pitcher of the Year that led Walton to a 5A state title in 2007 and state runner-up finish in 2008 … Finished his senior season with a 9-2 record to conclude his career at 21-3 … Had 98 strikeouts in 2008 to bring his career prep total to 229 … Posted a 0.63 ERA in his final season at Walton … Hit .424 with seven home runs and 25 RBI as a junior … Tabbed the Atlanta Journal-Constitution All-Area Player of the Year and All-Area Pitcher of the Year in 2007 … Also named the Cobb County Pitcher of the Year by the Marietta Daily Journal in 2007 and 2008 … First-team all-region and all-county in 2007 and 2008 … Member of the Braves Scout Team that won the World Wood Bat Tournament … Selected to the Atlanta Braves’ 400 Club All-Star Baseball Team in 2008 … Played baseball in the East Cobb program … A Georgia Dugout Club state all-star and third baseman on the Sunbelt Classic All-Tournament team … Winner of the Cooperstown Field of Dreams “King of Swat” Home Run Derby.
Personal
Full name is Mark David Pope … Born August 29, 1989 … Son of Richard and Andrea Pope … Management major at Georgia Tech.
Career Statistics
Year ERA W-L App/GS CG SHO/CBO SV IP H R ER BB SO 2B 3B HR BF B/Avg WP HBP SFA SHA BK 2009 6.00 5-1 25/0 0 0/2 8 27.0 32 21 18 16 27 6 0 1 128 .302 3 3 2 1 1 2010 3.78 8-1 13/11 1 1/1 1 78.2 90 37 33 13 73 14 2 7 330 .292 2 5 1 3 0 2011 1.74 11-4 16/16 5 3/1 0 113.2 91 28 22 24 88 12 0 5 454 .218 9 5 4 2 1 TOTAL 3.00 24-6 54/27 6 4/4 9 219.1 213
