After a big mid-week run-rule win over Auburn on Tuesday, the Jackets continue rolling and will look to bring the momentum cross country where they will take on the California Golden Bears. The series will kick off on Thursday night at 9:05 PM ET. Friday’s game will also be at 9:05 PM ET while Saturday’s game will be a 4:05 PM ET first pitch. It’s the one and only California trip the Jackets will make this year as they missed Stanford on the ACC schedule. In their first conference series ever held in the state of California a year ago, Georgia Tech swept Stanford in three games, so they will be looking to extend their Cali win streak over a Golden Bears team that has struggled as of late. These two programs met in Atlanta last year in a series the Jackets also swept before they met one more time in the ACC tournament where they once again took down the Bears.
Coming into the series at 14-13 overall and 1-8 in the ACC, Cal got off to a great start this season and even looked like a potential top 25 team at times. However, they ran into quite the slump as they entered conference play, losing their first eight ACC games and ran a ten-game losing streak up until they managed to win their series finale against Wake Forest last Sunday. They have been one of the poorer offensive teams in ACC conference play, ranking 14th of 16 in SLG at .383 and dead last in both batting average and OBP at .232 and .294. Meanwhile, the Jackets rank first in conference play in both batting average and SLG at .322 and .574 while ranking second in OBP at .435.
If there has been a strength for Cal, it has been the pitching which will of course be challenged by a Georgia Tech lineup that remains as one of the best in the country. The Bears are lined up to send freshman right-hander Otto Espinoza to the mound to open the series on Thursday, junior right-hander Oliver de la Torre on Friday, and sophomore right-hander Gavin Eddy on Saturday.
Otto Espinoza has looked like one of the better freshman pitchers in the country as he was recently named to Perfect Game’s Mid-season Freshman All-American team and will be making just the second start of his college career on Thursday. He last started against San Diego on March 7th where he delivered a seven inning gem, allowing just one earned run on three hits, two walks, and ten strikeouts. Although he has pitched exclusively out of the bullpen other than that one start, he has thrown several multi-inning outings and is up to 24.1 innings across eight total appearances. He currently owns an impressive 1.48 ERA that leads the team along with his 28.4% strikeout rate.
Oliver de la Torre is in his third season with the Bears and has been another reliable arm for Cal out of the weekend rotation this spring. In seven starts thus far, he currently owns a 2.55 ERA with a 27.5% strikeout rate to just a 6.7% walk rate, good for a team-leading 20.8 K-BB%. His 3.54 FIP also leads the team while his 1.05 WHIP ranks second. In his seven starts, he has yet to allow more than four earned runs and has only given up more than two earned runs in a start once. He has allowed either one or zero earned runs with at least five innings pitched in four of his last five outings.
The sophomore Gavin Eddy has also been very consistent in his role as Sunday starter this year and will pitch the finale against the Jackets. In 39.2 innings across seven starts, he owns a 2.50 ERA with a minuscule 5.0% walk rate to a 25.5% strikeout rate and a 1.08 WHIP. Just like de la Torre, Eddy has yet to give up more than four earned runs in a start and only has one start in which he has given up more than two earned runs. He’s coming off of a season-high nine strikeouts against Wake Forest last weekend.
For the Jackets, it will be Tate McKee to open the series per usual. He’s coming off of an excellent start against NC State last Friday in which he delivered a career-high 7.1 innings while allowing just one earned run. The junior right-hander Porter Buursema will be making his second career start as a member of the Jackets and second weekend start in as many weeks. It was only 2.1 innings against NC State last Saturday as he allowed three earned runs on five hits, four walks, and two strikeouts so he’ll definitely be looking to turn things around in his second opportunity as a starter. While the Jackets have been looking to solidify their weekend rotation outside of Tate McKee, the sophomore Jackson Blakely is doing a good job of securing a spot. Blakely will be making his fifth start of the season and fourth weekend start in as many weeks. Between his last two starts, he has thrown 11 scoreless innings on just six hits, three walks, and eight strikeouts. His start last weekend was his “breakout” performance as he delivered seven scoreless against NC State to help secure the series sweep. In 24.1 total innings thus far, Blakely’s 2.22 ERA leads all Jackets pitchers with at least one start with a 25.5% strikeout rate to just a 5.7% walk rate. Another strong performance this Saturday from Blakely could potentially secure his spot in the weekend rotation moving forward if he hasn’t already.
In other news on the offensive side of the ball, three different Georgia Tech hitters have been named to mid-season all-american teams. Over on Perfect Game, Vahn Lackey and Jarren Advincula were both named to their all-american first team while Carson Kerce was named to the second team. Over on D1 Baseball, Lackey was named to their second team and also made Baseball America’s mid-season player of the year watch list.
To be notified of game recaps from this series, subscribe below!
Georgia Tech Wins Extra-inning Thriller Over Duke in Series Opener
On senior weekend and Georgia Tech’s final home series of the season, they squared off with the Duke Blue Devils, a team that has underperformed all year, but looking to end their season on a high note. For Georgia Tech, it’s an opportunity to secure their postseason positioning and another step toward winning a consecutive…
Georgia Tech and Kennesaw State Meet For Their Second Mid-week Match-up of the Season
They’ll look to improve it to seven games on Tuesday evening as they hit the road to make the quick trip up I-75 to take on the Kennesaw State Owls of Conference-USA.
Georgia Tech Completes Series Sweep Over Wake Forest in Another One-run Game
they managed to complete the series sweep, this time in the same fashion they did on Friday night, winning 6-5 in a back and forth one-run contest
Leave a Reply