The Georgia Tech baseball team did not make it off the bubble into the NCAA baseball tournament. The Yellow Jackets, who were plummeting in their final five games, missed the tournament for the first time since the 2007 season and just the third time in coach Danny Hall’s 22-year tenure. The 64-team bracket released Monday included seven ACC teams - tied for most of any conference in the country - but not Tech.
The Jackets finished with a record of 32-23, tying for the lowest win total since Hall was hired prior to the 1994 season. With an RPI ranking of No. 37, the Jackets were the second highest-ranked team to not receive a bid. The highest-ranked team to not get in, No. 24 North Carolina, will miss the tournament for the first time since 2001.
Being tied for the ninth-best record in the ACC – which received seven bids – probably didn’t help, nor did not making pool play at the league tournament and giving itself a chance to build its résumé. Tech’s chances were also reduced with the March 21 injury to right fielder Kel Johnson.
Through Johnson’s and Tech’s 23rd game of the season, when he sprained his ankle, Tech was hitting .289 with an overall record of 16-7 and an ACC record of 5-4. Tech finished the season 32-23 and a conference record of 13-17.
As a team, Tech hit .234 in league games after that series, the third of the season. Johnson returned to the lineup, but was unable to duplicate his considerable early-season success, hitting .171 in his final 11 ACC games after hitting .457 through the UNC series.
At season’s end, the Jackets faltered when they were trying to make a push to both get into the eight-team ACC tournament field and also secure their NCAA tournament berth.
After taking a home series from Pittsburgh May 8-10 to reach 32-18, the Jackets lost their final five games – to Georgia at Turner Field, a three-game series at Miami and to Virginia in a play-in game of the ACC tournament – by a combined 59-5.
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