Jan. 2, 2003
ATLANTA – For the second time in three years and for the third time in 10 seasons under head coach Danny Hall, the Georgia Tech baseball team is ranked No. 1 in the nation in Baseball America’s preseason Top 25 poll. Four Yellow Jackets – pitcher Kyle Bakker, outfielder Matt Murton, second baseman Eric Patterson and outfielder Jeremy Slayden – were named to the publication’s preseason all-America team that was selected by Major League scouting directors.
The Yellow Jackets also earned preseason No. 1 rankings in 2001 and 1994.
Rice, Stanford, Florida State and Texas rounded out the top five schools in the poll. A total of five teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference made the poll, including Wake Forest at No. 7, Clemson at No. 19 and North Carolina at No. 22.
“Anytime you get this kind of recognition, it says a lot about what your program has accomplished,” said Hall, who has a 396-172 record in nine years at Tech including two trips to the College World Series (1994 and 2002). “We are excited about the prospects for the upcoming season and we are looking forward to playing for a chance to get back to Omaha and the College World Series.
“At the same time, we realize that it is called the preseason poll for a reason,” Hall continued. “We still have to work hard to reach our goals. But we are honored to be held in this high regard for what our program and our players have accomplished.”
Bakker and Murton, a pair of juniors who are considered excellent prospects for the 2003 Major League Baseball amateur draft in June, were both named to the first-team preseason all-America team. Bakker went 13-2 with a 3.14 ERA as the ace of Tech’s pitching staff last year. Murton hit .344 with 10 home runs in 2002.
Patterson and Slayden, a duo of sophomores who both earned freshman all-America honors last spring, were named to the second-team preseason all-America team.
“All four of those guys – Kyle Bakker, Matt Murton, Eric Patterson and Jeremy Slayden – are very deserving of the pre-season recognition,” said Hall. “They have had great seasons for us and have opened a lot of eyes with their play for their summer teams. At the same time, I think that we have some other guys who were left off that list that I hope end up on the postseason all-America teams.”
Georgia Tech led all schools with four players on the preseason all-America team. The Yellow Jackets led a nine-member Atlantic Coast Conference contingent, the largest of any conference.
The Yellow Jackets open the 2003 season on Feb. 15 at Georgia Southern. Season tickets are available by contacting the Georgia Tech ticket office at (888) TECH-TIX.
2003 BASEBALL AMERICA PRESEASON POLL
Team W-L ’02 Final Rank 1. Georgia Tech 52-16 8 2. Rice 52-14 5 3. Stanford 47-18 4 4. Florida State 60-14 7 5. Texas 57-15 1 6. Southern California 37-24 14 7. Wake Forest 47-13 12 8. Arizona State 37-21 22 9. Louisiana State 44-22 11 10. Baylor 36-26 NR 11. Houston 48-17 10 12. Notre Dame 50-18 6 13. Cal State Fullerton 37-22 NR 14. South Carolina 57-18 2 15. Richmond 53-13 16 16. Long Beach State 39-21 21 17. Mississippi State 34-24 NR 18. Stetson 42-19 NR 19. Clemson 54-17 3 20. Nebraska 47-21 9 21. Auburn 34-26 NR 22. North Carolina 43-21 17 23. South Alabama 42-19 NR 24. Florida Atlantic 46-21 19 25. Virginia Commonwealth 38-27 NR
BASEBALL AMERICA PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA FIRST TEAM C Landon Powell, South Carolina 1B Wes Whisler, UCLA 2B Rickie Weeks, Southern 3B Conor Jackson, California SS Stephen Drew, Florida State OF Michael Aubrey, Tulane OF Anthony Gwynn, San Diego State OF Carlos Quentin, Stanford DH Matt Murton, Georgia Tech
P David Aardsma, Rice P Kyle Bakker, Georgia Tech P Kyle Sleeth, Wake Forest P Tim Stauffer, Richmond P Brad Sullivan, Houston
SECOND TEAM C Tony Richie, Florida State 1B Michael Johnson, Clemson 2B Eric Patterson, Georgia Tech 3B Lee Mitchell, Georgia SS Aaron Hill, Louisiana State OF Michael Bourn, Houston OF Ben Harrison, Florida OF Jeremy Slayden, Georgia Tech DH Shane Costa, Cal State Fullerton
P Chad Cordero, Cal State Fullerton P Wes Littleton, Cal State Fullerton P Paul Maholm, Mississippi State P David Purcey, Oklahoma P Jeremy Sowers, Vanderbilt
THIRD TEAM C Javi Herrera, Tennessee 1B Vince Sinisi, Rice 2B Tim Moss, Texas 3B Jamie D’Antona, Wake Forest SS Matt Macri, Notre Dame OF Rod Allen, Arizona State OF Sam Fuld, Stanford OF Javon Moran, Auburn DH Chad Corona, San Diego State
P Scott Baker, Oklahoma State P Matt Brown, California P Chris Ray, William & Mary P Anthony Reyes, Southern California P Bob Zimmermann, SW Missouri State
