How Georgia Tech Baseball Matches up Against Every Team in Their Regional
Georgia Tech was placed in the Knoxville regional today and it is going to be a tough regional for one reason alone: it has Tennessee in it. The Volunteers have been the consensus number one team for most of the season and look like one of the best college baseball teams in recent memory. They are going to be a tough matchup not only for Georgia Tech but for every other team in the country.
But what about the other two teams in the regional, Alabama State and Campbell? Let's take a look at how Georgia Tech matches up with the three teams in the region and what to expect if and when the teams matchup.
Alabama State:
The Hornets are fresh off of a SWAC conference tournament title and had a 34-23 regular season. Alabama State is an impressive 21-8 in their conference and is hoping to make some noise. They will first be matched up with Tennessee and will get the first crack at the Vols.
For pitching, Alabama State has a 5.05 team ERA in conference play, which was second in the SWAC, but would have been at the bottom of the ACC. They are fourth in the SWAC in batting, with a.291 average in conference play and that would have also been in the bottom half of the ACC.
If Georgia Tech matches up with the Hornets, it could be a shootout. Georgia Tech has more talented pitchers, but they have been inconsistent and that could give way to a shootout. More than likely, Georgia Tech would be matched up with Alabama State if the Yellow Jackets lose to Campbell on Friday. Alabama State is unlikely to beat Tennessee in their matchup and will face the loser of Georgia Tech and Campbell.
Campbell:
The team that Georgia Tech will be facing in their opening game of the NCAA Tournament is the Campbell Camels. Campbell has a good offense and ranks ninth in the country in home runs. That might spell trouble for Georgia Tech, whose pitching is their biggest problem.
Campbell is 44th nationally in batting average with a nearly .300 average. The key to beating the Camels is going to be limiting their home runs. Whether it is John Medich or Marquis Grissom Jr, the Yellow Jackets are going to have to not give up the long ball and make things easy for Campbell.
In terms of pitching, Campbell has an above-average pitching staff, but they have not faced an offense like Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets are going to have opportunities to put runs on the board and I like their chances against Campbell.
Tennessee:
This is going to be the toughest matchup of the weekend. If Georgia Tech takes down Campbell, they are almost certainly going to face Tennessee. The Volunteers have been the number one team in the country for the majority of the season and are the overwhelming favorite to win the championship this season.
Tennessee is the top pitching team in the country this year and has also hit the most home runs in the country, by a pretty good margin. The team had a 53-7 regular season and won both the regular-season SEC title and the SEC tournament championship. Everyone is going to be picking Tenessee, but Georgia Tech is one of the few teams in the country that has the offensive firepower similar to the Volunteers.
Tenessee has quite a few elite prospects on their team for the upcoming MLB Draft. MLB.com has five Tennessee players in their top 200 and three of the top 28 alone. This is a very talented team throughout and it shows.
It is going to take the best overall performance from the Yellow Jackets to beat Tennessee and win the regional. They will have to face Tennessee at least twice and possibly three times. Getting two wins against this team is going to be tough, but we will see if Georgia Tech is up for the challenge.
The first game of the tournament for the Yellow Jackets is on Friday against Campbell. Georgia Tech needs to win this one, as it is double elimination and they don't need to start of the tournament with a loss, especially with games against Tennessee looming.
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