The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jackets (11-4) rolling toward ACC schedule
Tech at Mercer before returning home for N.C. State.
At the start of each week throughout the regular season, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution will take a closer look at the Georgia Tech baseball team. Here’s a breakdown of the Yellow Jackets (11-4) going into the fourth week of the campaign:
Record: 11-4, 0-0 ACC. Streak: Won 4. RPI: 198.
Last Week (4-1): Tuesday, lost to Northeastern 7-0; Friday: Beat Youngstown State 15-5; Saturday, beat Youngstown State 16-6 and beat Youngstown State 17-7; Sunday: beat Youngstown State 18-2.
This Week: Today, at Mercer, 6 p.m.; Friday, vs. North Carolina State, 6 p.m.; Saturday, vs. North Carolina State, 4 p.m.; Sunday, vs. North Carolina State, 1 p.m.
Week in review: The Jackets beat up still-winless Youngstown State in a four-game series by a combined score of 66-20 over 30 innings. Tech actually had to rally in the opener down 5-4 at the seventh-inning stretch. For the series, Tech had 17 extra-base hits, hit .448 and stole 10 bases. Carson Kerce, a freshman third baseman, hit .727 and drove in six runs in three games while right fielder Parker Brosius totaled 10 RBIs.
Tech’s week did not start well when it took a 7-0 loss to Northeastern. The Jackets were held to five hits and left 11 men on base while two of the Huskies’ seven runs were unearned.
Week ahead: Tech heads south down I-75 to face a Mercer team that started the season 9-1 before dropping 2 of 3 to the same Northeastern team that beat Tech. Those results ended up being part of a four-game losing streak that was snapped thanks to a 4-1 win by the Bears at Oklahoma State. Mercer went 33-25 last season and beat Tech 7-6 in Macon (in a game that was called in the bottom of the sixth inning due to inclement weather).
Tech will return to Russ Chandler Stadium to open ACC play starting Friday. North Carolina State (12-2, 3-0 ACC) comes to town for a three-game series and could be riding a 10-game winning streak if it can knock off North Carolina Greensboro today. The Wolfpack were 36-21 last season and went 1-2 in the Columbia (S.C.) Regional.
Houston stayed atop the AP Top 25 men’s poll for the third consecutive week Monday while a couple of the game’s traditional bluebloods made big jumps as they peak just in time for postseason play. The Cougars received 52 of 62 first-place votes from a national panel after a week in which they beat UCF and routed then-No. 14 Kansas to clinch the Big 12 regular-season title in their first year in the league. The three straight weeks Houston has spent at No. 1 matches the school’s longest run since the 1967-68 season. Houston will be the top seed in the Big 12 tourney and open play Thursday.
Defending national champion UConn, the top seed in the Big East tourney, was second in the poll after picking up six first-place votes, and Purdue — the top seed in the Big Ten tourney — remained at No. 3 after getting four first-place votes. The big movement came in the rest of the top 10, where North Carolina jumped three spots to No. 4 after beating then-No. 9 Duke and Kentucky vaulted six spots to No. 9 after its win over then-No. 4 Tennessee.
USC rode a Pac12 tournament championship to its best ranking in 38 years. The Trojans moved up to No. 3 in The Associated Press Top 25 poll after topping Stanford to win the conference tournament for the first time since 2014. It’s the highest ranking for USC since the final poll of the 1986 season.
South Carolina remained a unanimous No. 1, receiving all 35 first-place votes. The Gamecocks head into the NCAA Tournament undefeated for the second consecutive season. Iowa moved back up to No. 2 after winning the Big Ten Tournament.