Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Overall Rank: #35
Conference Rank: #7 ACC
Georgia Tech Team Page
It was a roller coaster ride of a 2014 season for the Georgia Tech baseball program. The Yellow Jackets went just 14-16 in conference play but with their backs against the wall they elevated their level of play and made the NCAA Tournament once again. The sparkplug to this run was the way they navigated the ACC Conference Tournament and secure the automatic bid and a trip to the Oxford Regional. A pretty solid foundation returns in 2015 that will make Georgia Tech a very tough out once again.
2014: 37-27, 14-16
2014 Postseason: NCAA
Coach: Danny Hall
Field Players:
The ability to execute the little things is going to be very important for the Yellow Jackets this season as they are not a team that is going to beat you with homeruns. Georgia Tech only hit 21 homeruns as a team in 2014 and it will up to their core of solid contact type hitters to once again lead the way. Outfielder Daniel Spingola led the team in batting average at .319 last season and, along with his 15 stolen bases, returns to headline a balanced lineup for Coach Hall. Infielder Matt Gonzalez is the leading returning producer with 37 runs batted in and Infielder A.J. Murray will be the primary source of power for Georgia Tech as he hit four homeruns last season.
Pitchers:
There is a good core in place for the weekend rotation to give the Yellow Jackets a chance to compete in most weekend series. Devin Stanton is probably going to be the Friday night starter for Georgia Tech in 2015. Stanton was 5-3 with a 2.24 earned run average and did an excellent job of going after hitters and throwing strikes. He only walked 22 batters in 76.1 innings. This type of control should allow him to get even deeper into games this season and save the bullpen. Ben Parr should also be part of the weekend rotation after going 5-4 last season with a 2.62 earned run average. He also did a nice job of limiting walks as well and Parr only walked 20 batters over the course of the 2014 season.
Who to Watch:
The bullpen battle is going to be interesting as both Sam Clay and Dustin Isaacs were very clutch in the back end of games last season for the Yellow Jackets. This duo combined for a 12-6 record with 15 saves and both had earned run averages under two. With Georgia Tech likely playing more tightly contested games in 2015, it will interesting to see if Zac Ryan ends up in the closer role or someone like a Matthew Gorst takes a step forward from his freshman season and becomes a viable closer candidate.
Final Projection:
In typical Danny Hall fashion, the Yellow Jackets will play a very challenging schedule starting with games with St. John’s and Liberty during the opening weekend of the season. In addition, matchups with Coastal Carolina, Auburn, Georgia and Kennesaw State highlight the non-conference portion of the 2015 schedule for Georgia Tech. The ACC schedule does give the Yellow Jackets a break by not having to play Florida State during the regular season. A trip to Louisville from March 27-29 will be the first big road test in conference play against an always tough Cardinals team. Virginia visits Russ Chandler Stadium from April 10-12 in what will be arguably one of the best weekend series of the year for the Georgia Tech fan base. Then, a final conference road trip to Miami could have some significant NCAA Tournament seeding ramifications depending on how things play out. Overall, this should be a more balanced team that, if they can be a little more dynamic offensively, will win at least 40 games in 2015.
Projected Postseason: NCAA Baseball Tournament
Returning Leaders:
At Bats: Daniel Spingola, OF, 257
Hits: Daniel Spingola, OF, 82
Home Runs: A.J. Murray, IF, 4
RBIs: Matt Gonzalez, IF, 37
Runs: Daniel Spingola, OF, 45
Stolen Bases: Daniel Spingola, OF, 15
Wins: Ben Parr, P, 5; Devin Stanton, P, 5
Innings Pitched: Devin Stanton, P, 76.1
Strikeouts: Devin Stanton, P, 57
Saves: Zac Ryan, P, 1
Madness 2015 Draft Rankings:
#17 Kel Johnson
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