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 of the Yellow Jackets (15-4, 3-0 ACC) going into the fifth week of the campaign:
Record: 15-4, 3-0 ACC
Streak: Won 8
Rank: N/A
RPI: 77
Last Week (4-0)
Tuesday: Won at Mercer 9-5
Friday: Beat North Carolina State 8-5
Saturday: Beat North Carolina State 8-7
Sunday: Beat North Carolina State 15-5 (8)
This Week
Tuesday: at Georgia State, 4 p.m.
Friday: at North Carolina, 6 p.m.
Saturday: at North Carolina, 2 p.m.
Sunday: at North Carolina, Noon
Week in review
A weekend sweep of visiting North Carolina State has Tech’s win streak at eight.
The Jackets won a pair of nip-and-tuck affairs Friday and Saturday, including an 8-7, come-from-behind triumph in the middle game, before blowing out the Wolfpack on Sunday.
Tech hit .315 against NCSU and slugged 10 home runs, one coming off the bat of Bobby Zmarzlak in the bottom of the eighth during Saturday’s comeback. Drew Burress hit three more home runs and now has 13 for the season, second nationally only to Grant Knipp of Campbell who has 14.
On Tuesday, Tech sophomore righty Carson Ballard threw seven innings of scoreless ball before the Jackets’ bullpen had to hold on in a 9-5 win at Mercer.
Week ahead
Tech will begin its week by taking the 12-mile drive across town to face Georgia State in a rematch of a Feb. 27 contest that saw the Jackets win 10-0 at Russ Chandler Stadium. The Panthers have been 9-3 since that loss and are fresh off a conference-opening sweep at South Alabama.
On Thursday, Tech will leave the state for the first time this year when it travels to Chapel Hill, N.C., for a three-game series at North Carolina beginning Friday. The Tar Heels (17-4, 4-2 ACC) are 15-0 at home and host North Carolina Wilmington on Tuesday before welcoming the Jackets.
North Carolina, ranked 20th nationally, swept Pittsburgh so start ACC play and dropped 2 of 3 at Miami over the weekend.
Tech’s RPI has rocketed up to 77 after its sweep of NCSU and that has put the Jackets squarely back in the discussion to make the postseason. North Carolina begins the week ranked 10th in RPI.
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