May 24, 2011
By Jon Cooper
Sting Daily
No. 3 Georgia Tech (39-17, 22-8) vs. No. 6 Clemson (39-17, 17-13)/No. 7 N.C. State (33-23, 15-15)/No. 2 Florida State (40-15, 19-11)
Wednesday: Mark Pope, (11-3) vs. Clemson: Dominic Leone (5-2, 3.67), 11:00 a.m.
Thursday: Jed Bradley (6-2, 3.10) vs. North Carolina State: Rob Chamra (2-3 5.10), 7:00 p.m.
Friday: Buck Farmer (9-2, 2.81) vs. Florida State: Mike McGee (8-2, 4.03), 3:00 p.m.
Georgia Tech heads into Durham Bulls Park in Durham, N.C., looking to ride the momentum of their season-ending series against Virginia Tech, which helped earn them a share of the Coastal Division championship. In addition to tying No. 1 Virginia for the division, the Jackets tied a school record by winning 22 ACC games, matching the 2005 team. Coincidentally, 2005 was the last year the Jackets won the ACC Tournament.
In addition to Clemson, the Jackets play North Carolina State on Thursday before finishing with Florida State on Friday. In 2011, Clemson won the series with Tech, 2-1 on their home field, while the Yellow Jackets swept N.C. State at home. Tech and Florida State did not meet this season.
Fans don’t have to miss a pitch, as RamblinWreck.com will cover all the action, from first pitch to the final out.
Aces High: Today’s game will feature a rematch of the series opener between the teams, played April 29 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. In that game, Clemson’s Dominic Leone allowed two runs and two hits over eight innings, while striking out 10, to outduel Mark Pope. Pope went six, allowing three earned runs despite allowing a season-high 10 hits. Zane Evans was the hitting star for Tech, blasting a two-run homer in the fifth, accounting for the Jackets’ only runs. The Jackets managed only one hit the rest of the way, as Leone retired nine of the last 10 batters he faced (the only batter to reach was on catcher’s interference). Clemson second baseman Jason Stolz drove in three runs, while ACC Player of the Year, shortstop Brad Miller was 4-for-4.
Dead Red Jed: Jed Bradley likes pitching against N.C. State. Bradley had one of his best outings of the year the first time he saw the Wolfpack, on March 19 at Russ Chandler Stadium. He threw seven shutout innings, allowing only five singles, in the 12-0 victory. The Wolfpack got only one runner as far as third base and had only three in scoring position in seven innings against Tech’s lefty. In two career starts, Bradley is 2-0, with a 1.38 ERA against N.C. State (2 earned runs in 13 innings). State’s pitcher, Rob Chamra, made only one appearance against the Jackets in 2011, allowing three earned runs and five hits in three innings of work in Tech’s 11-4 Sunday blowout.
Sam-azing Performance: Left fielder Sam Dove is one player on Clemson’s radar. During the Saturday game of the series, a 5-1 Georgia Tech victory, Dove went 5-for-5, including a two-out, two-run, first inning single. His five hits were half of Tech’s hit total on the day and nearly a third of their hits for the entire series (they totaled 16).
Quite a Club: Between Georgia Tech, Clemson and Florida State, the 300-ACC wins club is completely accounted for. Both Georgia Tech Head Coach Danny Hall and Clemson Head Coach Jack Leggett reached the milestone this year, with Leggett reaching it with a 3-1 series-winner on Sunday, May 1. Hall would reach the milestone two Sundays later against North Carolina. The other all-time 300-win head coaches are Florida State’s Mike Martin, who Tech will see on Friday, and the late Bill Wilhelm, who also accomplished the feat for Clemson.
On Deck: Georgia Tech takes on seventh-seed North Carolina State on Thursday night and concludes its bracket of games with a Friday afternoon matchup with Atlantic Division Winner and No. 2 seed Florida State. The Championship Game is scheduled for Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m.
–RamblinWreck.com–
