The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Duke series win puts Tech closer to NCAA berth
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 going into the week:
Record: 30-19, 14-13 ACC.
Streak: Won 1.
RPI: 48.
Last week (2-2): Tuesday, lost to Auburn 7-2; Friday, beat Duke 11-8; Saturday, lost to Duke 14-10; Sunday, beat Duke 8-6.
This week: Today, vs. Mercer, 6 p.m.; Thursday, at Florida State, 6 p.m.; Friday, at Florida State, 6 p.m.; Saturday, at Florida State, 2 p.m.
Week in review: A wild weekend at Russ Chandler Stadium saw the Jackets outscore visiting Duke 29-28 and take a threegame series with victories Friday and Sunday.
Tech claimed the rubber match Sunday thanks to a four-run seventh inning that came on the heels of the Blue Devils scoring five in the top half of the inning to take a 6-4 lead. Cam Jones’ two-run single in the rally gave Tech the lead for good and Dawson Brown pitched the final 1⅓ innings to preserve the win, the 1,200th for coach Danny Hall during his Tech tenure.
The Jackets couldn’t keep pace Saturday, losing 14-10. Tech pitching allowed 14 earned runs on 16 hits and walked 16 batters.
On Friday, John Giesler drove in five runs, including one as part of a two-run eighth, to lead Tech to an 11-8 victory. Tech began the week with a lackluster performance in a 7-2 loss at home to Auburn.
Week ahead: Tech’s two wins over Duke put the Jackets in good shape to make an NCAA regional when selections are made at the end of the month. But Hall’s team
still shouldn’t be leaving anything to chance during the final week of the regular season.
A visit today from Mercer (2625) marks Tech’s final home game. The Bears have lost three in a row coming in and lost 9-5 to the Jackets on March 12 in Macon. Mercer has an RPI of 103 and Tech can ill afford to slip up.
The Jackets hit the road to Tallahassee, Florida, on Wednesday ahead of a three-game series at Florida State to close the regular season beginning Thursday. The Seminoles (37-12, 15-11 ACC) dropped two of three at Pittsburgh over the weekend and have a game at Stetson today. Florida State, with an RPI of 8, is tied for second in the ACC’s Atlantic Division and is 1½ games back of first-place Clemson.
Tech is tied for fourth with Virginia Tech (but owns the tiebreaker over the Hokies) in the league’s Coastal Division and is one game back of Virginia and Duke for second. The Jackets also took three-game series from each of those teams.
After this weekend, the Jackets will head to Charlotte for the ACC tournament, which begins May 21.