Georgia Tech hit the weekend as the last undefeated baseball team among 295 Division I programs.
They will finish the weekend knowing how relevant that might be.
Off to their best start in 10 years, the ninth-ranked Yellow Jackets (12-0) are in Tallahassee, Fla., for a three-game series with No. 14 Florida State, their first ranked opponent and their first sniff of the ACC, a treacherous place to dwell this spring.
“We’re kind of getting off to the same start we did my freshman year,” senior Matt Gonzalez said. “That team started 17-2 (but finished 37-27). But this team is a lot tougher mentally. We’ve come through a lot with last year.”
Ah, last year. After an March ankle injury to star freshman Kel Johnson, Tech lost its way, falling from the rankings in mid-April, finishing 13-17 in the conference and losing their last five games, including a one-and-done in the ACC tournament. The team missed the NCAAs for the first time in eight years.
But an influx of freshman pitchers has helped redirect the program. The team ERA (1.72) ranks eighth in the country. Team depth is such that coach Danny Hall used 12 lineups in the first 12 games. The Jackets lead the nation in double plays turned (24), and they get stronger as the game progresses, outscoring the opposition 33-6 from the seventh inning on.
“There’s been a lot better presence on and off the field,” said Johnson, a freshman All-American outfielder last season. “We’ve got a great freshman class that has really bonded with everybody well. There’s a lot of cohesion. I think it’s come out on the field.
“We’ve had a lot of team wins, hitting up and down the lineup. The bullpen depth has been just incredible. It’s just a big difference from last year.”
A few cautionary words about the quick start. Of their first eight opponents, Tech faced three teams — Virginia Commonwealth, Georgia State and Georgia Southern — that entered the weekend with winning records. Collectively, the 12-0 start came against opponents with a 37-55 (.402) record.
But they set up the FSU series with a 4-1 win at Auburn on Tuesday. After being picked by ACC coaches to finish fourth in the Coastal Division — behind Miami, defending national champion Virginia and North Carolina — the conversation around the program has changed.
“I don’t know what to expect,” Johnson said. “I wouldn’t put a ceiling on it. I have very high expectations. I think the team is very strong, and I don’t know that we have a weakness like we’ve had in past years that could really come back to bite us late in the year.”
The fast start has been fueled by some anticipated contributors. Gonzalez and Johnson drive the production slots of the order, accounting for 25 RBIs and 12 extra-base hits. Catcher Arden Pabst is on the Johnny Bench Award watch list for the second season (career 43 percent caught-stealing rate), although freshman Joey Bart (.471 and seven RBIs in his first 17 at-bats) has earned playing time at the position.
But there have been some unpredictables. Smooth middle infielder Connor Justus, a career .251 hitter, took a .435 average into the FSU series. Junior Matthew Gorst, who had one career save entering the season, was handed the closer job and converted his first four opportunities (1.00 ERA, .182 average allowed).
Hall recruited hard last year for pitchers and has been rewarded. Seven first-year players pitched 60 of Tech’s first 115 innings (52 percent) and accumulated a 1.20 ERA. Jonathan Hughes, the Sunday starter, chose to go to Tech after he was drafted in the second round by Baltimore last summer and started his college career with a 3-0 record and a 0.50 ERA. Fellow freshmen Micah Carpenter and Burton Dulaney have already evolved into dependable set-up men.
“They kind of expect to pitch like this,” Gonzalez said. “I think that’s a big key. They know they’re going to go out there and pitch well.”
“We were losing games in the six, seventh and eight innings last year,” Johnson said. “Now we’re winning games in the sixth, seventh and eighth.”
How they will endure in the ACC is another issue. In the latest Collegiate Baseball rankings, the conference has eight teams in the top 20, included four — No. 4 Louisville, No. 5 Miami and No. 7 UNC — in the top seven. Only three of the 14 conference teams received fewer votes than Tech in the coaches’ preseason poll. Doesn’t sound like a dark horse’s year.
“We want to finish as high in our conference as we possibly can and what would come that is a chance to host a regional and host a super regional and ultimately end up in Omaha,” Hall said. “But to make those things happen, you have to finish in the top part of the league and that’s not an easy task.”
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