Four Big Keys to Advancing To The Super Regionals For Georgia Tech Baseball

Georgia Tech has had one of the best seasons in program history, but they are trying to make it farther than any Yellow Jackets team has in the past 20 years.

James Ramsey will be looking to lead Georgia Tech to its first regional win since 2006 this weekend and capitalize on the momentum that the Yellow Jackets have been playing with over the past month.

What will be the keys to doing so?

1. 2-0 Start

Does a 2-0 start guarantee that you will make it out of regionals? No, but it puts the odds heavily in your favor and Georgia Tech has not started a regional 2-0 since 2010 (they would go on to lose the Atlanta regional to Alabama).

If the Yellow Jackets can avoid losses in the first two games, it is hard for me to envision either Oklahoma, The Citadel, or UIC being able to beat Georgia Tech twice to advance. Getting a win Friday over UIC and then getting a win over the winner of the Sooners and the Bulldogs will put Georgia Tech in great position.

2. Offense continues to click

If Georgia Tech's offense continues to play like it did last week in the ACC Tournament (and all season frankly), the Yellow Jackets are getting out of their first regional since 2006.

This is not just the best offense in the country, but it is the top unit in the entire tournament. Georgia Tech put up 13 runs against a top North Carolina pitching staff, 16 runs against Virginia, and nine against Miami. The bats are just relentless 1-9 and Vahn Lackey, Drew Burress, Jarren Advincula, Carson Kerce, and Ryan Zuckerman can take over any game and make life miserable for opposing pitchers.

I think it is pretty simple. If Georgia Tech's offense is clicking, they are likely to go 3-0 this weekend.

3. Pitching remains consistent

While the offense for the Yellow Jackets is the best in the country, their pitching staff is not, but that does not mean that it is bad by any means. Tate McKee, Carson Ballard, and Jackson Blakely have turned into a good weekend trio and the top bullpen arms of Mason Patel, Caden Gaudette, Dimitri Angelakos, Dylan Loy, and Justin Shadek will be fresh.

It will be worth watching to see what James Ramsey decides to do with the pitching staff this weekend. The Yellow Jackets are going to be heavy, heavy favorites against UIC to open the regional this weekend and would probably prefer not to use their best pitchers in this game. On the other hand, having a bad outing from any pitcher and getting upset in the opening game would really put the Yellow Jackets behind.

If McKee, Ballard, and Blakely can pitch like they did toward the end of the season, they should make it through the weekend.

4. Don't fall behind early

This might be a simple point, but when Georgia Tech loses, it is usually because their pitching has a poor start and they fall behind too early and the offense can't catch back up. I don't think that any of these pitching staffs are good enough to shut down the Yellow Jackets offense, but if the pitching has a bad game and gives up eight or nine runs, it is no guarantee that Georgia Tech can catch back up.

The only series that Georgia Tech lost this season was to North Carolina and in both losses in games one and two, the Tar Heels jumped on Georgia Tech early and kept their bats quite the rest of the game. Oklahoma and The Citadel have nowhere near the pitching talent that UNC does, but Georgia Tech needs to be the team that gets ahead early and forces the other team to catch up.

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