Georgia Tech plays its most important game of the year Saturday, a winner’s bracket matchup with Auburn in the NCAA regional at Russ Chandler Stadium. The 7 p.m. game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
Tech, the top seed in the regional and the No. 3 seed in the entire tournament, advanced Friday night with a 13-2 win over No. 4 seed Florida A&M. Auburn, the No. 2 seed, drilled No. 3 seed Coastal Carolina 16-7.
1. Elite pitching matchup
Georgia Tech will send ace Connor Thomas to face Auburn ace Tanner Burns. Thomas has been dominant for the Yellow Jackets, with a record of 9-1 and a 3.28 ERA in 15 starts this season. The Jackets have won each of his past 11 starts.
Burns has been similarly effective for the Tigers, although he did not pitch in the SEC tournament due to shoulder tightness. Burns has an opponent batting average of .210 and has given up just 57 hits in 74 innings with a 2.80 ERA. Undoubtedly, as Burns averages a little under six innings per start, a major objective for Tech (as it always is) will be to force him to throw a lot of pitches and get him out of the game.
In no small part because of its control issues, FAMU threw 218 pitches in eight innings against Tech, a huge number compared to the 143 that Tech pitchers threw in nine innings.
“Our program is all about grit, and if you work on those deep counts, and you’re trying to get the guy behind you to see all his pitches and, sure enough, you wear down the pitcher and they start to give in a little bit,” left fielder Colin Hall said. “And you look forward to those opportunities where you can come through once you get in those deep counts.”
2. What’s at stake
It perhaps goes without saying, but Saturday’s game is hugely critical. The loser will have to play a loser’s bracket game against the Coastal Carolina-Florida A&M winner Sunday at noon. That game’s winner will play to stay alive Sunday at 6 p.m. against the Tech-Auburn winner, which will have the advantage of rest and also likely having more pitching available.
Further, that team will also be able to afford one loss, with a final game on Monday if necessary.
In the past three years, the winner of the winner’s bracket game has gone on to win its regional 38 out of 48 times.
Tech is trying to get past the regional round for the first time since 2006, the last time the Jackets reached the College World Series. Tech has lost at the regional round eight times since then.
3. Crowd a factor
Tech played before its first home sellout of the season, a crowd of 3,718. The largest crowd at Russ Chandler Stadium during the regular season was 2,237.
“It was great to see everyone show up here (Friday) and it gave us a lot of energy, and we need that (Saturday) night as well,” coach Danny Hall said
Saturday’s game figures to have an energized atmosphere. The Auburn-Coastal Carolina game drew 2,487 – larger than Tech’s largest attendance in the regular season – with Tigers fans making up the majority of the crowd.
Another sellout is likely.
4. Injury update
The status of shortstop Luke Waddell for Saturday’s game was uncertain after the Jackets’ Friday night win over Florida A&M. Waddell, Tech’s leadoff hitter and a starter in 55 of the Jackets’ 59 games, left the game after wrenching his knee during a third-inning at-bat. Waddell fell to the ground and was slow to get up. He tested out the knee before gingerly walking off the field. Waddell came into the game hitting .318 with an on-base percentage of .435 and has been the Jackets’ leadoff man for the past 46 games in a row.
Hall said that there was no structural damage to his knee, and that Waddell was walking around after the game.
“So we’ll just kind of see how he feels (Saturday) and see if he can go,” Hall said.
Waddell had hurt the same knee more than once during the regular season.
“It’s just weird,” Hall said. “I don’t know if his cleats stick, I don’t know what happens, but it kind of wrenches his knee.”
Tech is well situated in replacing Waddell at short. Hall shifted second baseman Austin Wilhite from second to short, where Wilhite started the past two years before Hall switched the two early in the season.
Charlie Benson, a freshman, would be the new starter at second. He came in for Wilhite after Waddell left the game and handled his two chances in the field. He came into the game with eight at-bats this season.
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