Georgia Tech begins road to Omaha on Friday against Western Kentucky

Tech (40-17) begins the Oxford Regional at 4 p.m. EDT Friday against Western Kentucky at Swayze Field in Oxford. It’s there that the Jackets truly will begin their quest for Omaha, Nebraska, and the College World Series. The Jackets need to survive a four-team field that includes Western Kentucky (46-12), Murray State (39-13) and host Ole Miss (40-19), the overall No. 10 seed.

Coach Danny Hall, in the final stretch of his 32-year tenure as Tech’s coach, takes a squad into the NCAA Tournament that won the ACC’s regular-season championship before going 1-1 at the ACC tournament last week in Durham, North Carolina. Tech features a lineup that boasts back-to-back ACC freshman-of-the-year winners in Drew Burress and Alex Hernandez, respectively, and seven hitters with .300 batting averages or better.

Tech’s main foursome on the mound is led by Patel (11-1, 2.74 ERA) out of the bullpen and starters Tate McKee (7-3, 5.18 ERA), Brady Jones (7-3, 4.30 ERA) and Jaylen Paden (5-1, 1.88 ERA).

Those players and their teammates helped Tech reach 40 wins for the first time since 2019.

“Very proud of just what we’ve been able to do and proud of this team,” Hall said. “This is a young, kind of an inexperienced team that found a way to win a conference title. Now we have a chance to keep playing.”

The Jackets will have to get by Western Kentucky first, and that doesn’t promise to be an easy task.

The Hilltoppers (46-12) are making their first postseason appearance since 2009. It’s a team led by coach Marc Rardin, a three-time junior college national title-winning skipper, and junior center fielder Ryan Wideman, a Walton High School graduate who’s hitting .398 with 68 RBIs and 45 stolen bases.

Western Kentucky played a soft schedule, racking up 31 of its 46 wins against Quadrant 4 opponents. But it took a series from Dallas Baptist (the No. 2 seed in the Baton Rouge Regional) and beat Kentucky (the No. 3 seed in the Clemson Regional).

The Hilltoppers won four games in five days at the Conference USA tournament in Lynchburg, Virginia, to earn an automatic bid into the field of 64. Victories over New Mexico State, Florida International and Jacksonville State all came in Western Kentucky’s final at-bat.

Rardin’s squad enters the postseason with the nation’s third-best ERA (3.35) and ninth best WHIP (1.24). He said he’s leaning toward starting sophomore right-hander Drew Whalen (9-2, 3.17 ERA) on the mound against Tech.

“We have to really go out, and it’s hard to do, but you just gotta get your guys to play the game and not the (name of the opponent). The game is still the game,” Rardin said. “They get caught playing a uniform or get caught playing in a venue. Kids forget about the game, and you just need to play the game, whatever the venue is and whatever the team is you’re playing.

“If we can just be us and do our thing then we can compete. Honestly, all I want to do is compete.”

A Tech win would place it in the 6 p.m. Saturday game. A loss would mean an elimination game scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday against the loser of the Ole Miss-Murray State game (8 p.m. Friday). Sunday’s contests are scheduled for 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. If a seventh game is needed to decide the regional, it would be played Monday at a time to be determined.

The Jackets have failed to advance out of the regional round in its past 12 opportunities.

“Baseball’s baseball. Doesn’t matter who you’re playing or where it’s at, it’s an even playing field every single day,” Patel said. “I think (the Oxford Regional) will be one of the more fun ones around the country, and I think we’re all excited to go to SEC country and kind of put the GT stamp on it at the end of the day.”