SB Nation Atlanta: All Posts by George Lane

2011 MLB Draft Results: Georgia Tech's Jacob Esch, Matt Skole, and Mark Pope Drafted On Day Two

2011-06-08T14:00:48Z

Through two days of of the 2011 MLB first year player draft, four Georgia Tech players have been drafted. On Tuesday, juniors Jacob Esch, Matt Skole, and Mark Pope joined first round pick Jed Bradley on the list.

Skole was the first Tech player to be taken off the board on Tuesday, going in the fifth round, 157th overall, to the Washington Nationals. The third baseman finished his career tied with the fifth-most home runs all-time in Tech history with 47. This season, he had a .348 batting average, 10 home runs and 58 RBI. His career accolades include being named to the freshman All-American team and the All-ACC team the last two years.

Pope was selected later in the fifth round with the 173rd pick by the San Diego Padres. The right-hander put up an 11-4 record and a 1.74 ERA this season, and holds a 24-6 career record. He finished with a Tech record with four career complete game shutouts.

While Esch played most of his career at Tech as an infielder, the Minnesota native was drafted in the 11th round by Florida Marlins as a pitcher. This season, Esch batted .319 and had 41 RBI, six home runs, and nine stolen bases. On the mound, he finished with 5.0 innings pitched and a 1.80 ERA.

NCAA Baseball Regionals: Georgia Tech Vs. Mississippi State Follows Austin Peay Elimination

2011-06-05T22:31:41Z

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets stayed hot at the plate Sunday afternoon in a 12-2 win over the Austin Peay Governors to stay alive in the Atlanta Regional. Tech hitters tallied eight extra base hits, including four home runs, and 12 batters registered a hit including the entire starting roster.

The middle of the lineup, Matt Skole and Daniel Palka, powered the offensive attack on Sunday, going 6-for-9 with six runs scored, four runs batted in, and a home run apiece. Zane Evans and Jake Davies hit home runs as well for Tech.

Starting pitcher Buck Farmer was nothing short of spectacular on the day. The sophomore pitched a complete game, allowing five hits, two runs (one earned), two walks, and nine strikeouts. The complete game was especially important because Tech has now used all of its starting pitchers so far in the regional and will be facing Mississippi State with an entire bullpen approach.

The big victory was also key because it allowed the Tech regulars to be subbed out and not have to play nine innings, giving them extra rest before facing Mississippi State.

Georgia Tech and Mississippi State now battle for the regional championship. The two face off Sunday at 7 p.m. If Mississippi State wins, they will advance to a super regional while if Tech wins, the Jackets and Bulldogs will play again Monday night.

The Jackets will start freshman right handed reliever DeAndre Smelter (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 15.0 IP) and Mississippi State will counter with left handed Nick Routt (2-3, 4.15 ERA, 43.1 IP).

For NCAA baseball tournament, scores, bracket updates and schedules from every region, click here. For more Georgia Tech sports, join From The Rumble Seat. For more Mississippi State sports, join For Whom The Cowbell Tolls.

NCAA Baseball, Atlanta Regional: Mississippi State In Driver's Seat

2011-06-05T12:00:55Z

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets finally got hot at the plate in a 6-2 victory over the Southern Miss Golden Eagles Saturday afternoon. Sophomore Buck Farmer will get the start on the mound when they try to get revenge against Austin Peay at 3 p.m. Whoever wins the first game of the day will get a doubleheader and will face Mississippi State for the regional championship Sunday night.

The Mississippi St. Bulldogs rode a seven-run inning and another strong pitching performance to an 8-3 win over the Austin Peay Governors Saturday night. With the win, the Bulldogs advance to the regional championship and are in the driver's seat to advance to a super regional.

The complete double-elimination Atlanta Regional bracket and TV schedule (all games televised on CSS, all times ET):

Game 1: Mississippi State def. Southern Miss, 3-0

Game 2: Austin Peay def. Georgia Tech, 2-1

Game 3: Georgia Tech def. Southern Miss, 6-2

Game 4: Mississippi State def. Austin Peay, 8-3

Game 5: Georgia Tech vs. Austin Peay, June 5 at 3 pm

Game 6: Mississippi State vs. Game 5 winner, June 5 at 7 pm

Game 7, if necessary: Whoever remains standing, June 6 at 7 pm

NCAA Baseball, Atlanta Regional: Georgia Tech Downs Southern Miss To Stay Alive

2011-06-04T21:55:30Z

The Georgia Tech offense failed to take advantage of opportunites last night in the loss to Austin Peay. Today against Southern Miss was just the opposite, as the Yellow Jackets jumped out early with five runs in the second inning to cruise to a 6-2 victory.

Jed Bradley, with a dozen or so MLB scouts in the building, put up an impressive performance. The expected first round draft pick pitched 7.2 innings allowing eight hits and two earned runs. He only walked one while striking out four. He scattered the eight hits quite effectively, and even those were of the bloop variety and were not hard hit balls.

Right fielder Brandon Thomas had a great day at the plate for the Jackets, hitting his third home run of the season in the second inning, a three-run shot, and followed that with a triple in his second at-bat.

Georgia Tech will give the ball to Buck Farmer when the Jackets face the loser of tonight's Austin Peay and Mississippi State matchup Sunday at 3 p.m.

2011 NCAA Baseball, Atlanta Regional: Georgia Tech Loses Game And Staff Ace Mark Pope To Injury

2011-06-04T02:10:45Z

No. 3 Mississippi State defeated No. 2 Southern Miss 3-0

The Mississippi State Bulldogs, led by strong pitching performances by Luis Pollorena and Caleb Reed, earned their way into the winner's bracket with an impressive 3-0 shutout of Southern Miss. The two pitchers scattered eight hits and gave up four walks but didn't allow any Golden Eagles to cross the plate.

Junior left fielder Brent Brownlee entered as a defensive replacement in the fourth inning, and came up with the big hit of the afternoon in his first at-bat. With two runners in scoring position, Brownlee laced a single up the middle to give the Bulldogs their 3-0 lead.

No. 4 Austin Peay defeated No. 1 Georgia Tech 2-1

The Governors and Yellow Jackets battled all night with great pitching and brilliant defense, but Austin Peay managed to take advantage of their opportunities better than Tech and pulled off the upset, winning 2-1.

The Georgia Tech fans received a bit of surprise in the second inning when pitching coach Tom Kinkelaar went to the mound to check on Mark Pope, the staff ace, before pulling him due to injury. According to Doug Roberson of the AJC, Pope hurt his back Thursday in practice. Matthew Grimes came up big in relief, throwing 6.2 innings while giving up just 3 hits and 2 runs. The normal midweek starter struck out eight while only walking one hitter.

Georgia Tech had plenty of chances, stranding runners in scoring position seemingly every inning.

Mississippi State Austin Peay advance to the winner's bracket and will play Saturday night at 7 p.m. Southern Miss and Georgia Tech play Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.

2011 NCAA Baseball Tournament Selection Show: Who Will Five ACC Hosts Play?

2011-05-30T12:00:58Z

UPDATE: The complete 2011 NCAA baseball field has been announced.

The 2011 NCAA Tournament kicks off Monday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. when the tournament field is announced on ESPN. The ACC already knows that five of its teams will host regionals, the most of any conference, but there are still plenty of questions to be answered come Monday afternoon.

Five major online publications have projections online, and we will be using those as guideposts to help answer the questions facing the ACC. Those publications are Perfect Game, Baseball America, ESPN, Chasing Omaha, and College Baseball Daily.

Will the ACC get a third national seed? The Virginia Cavaliers and North Carolina Tar Heels are virtual locks to get one of the top-eight seeds, but Florida State is on the border. The Seminoles have a top-five RPI, won the Atlantic Division, and finished as runner-up in the best conference in the nation. Of the five projections, three have the Seminoles receiving a No. 6 seed and the other two have them just missing out of the top eight.

Where will the bubble teams end up? The ACC should get seven teams into the tournament: the five that are hosting regionals (North Carolina, Florida State, Virginia, Georgia Tech, and Clemson), and two more (Miami and NC State). The projections agree that NC State likely will end up in Columbia in the South Carolina regional. Miami, on the other hand, could end up going to five very different regionals according to the projections: Arizona State, Florida, Oregon State, UCLA, or South Carolina.

Which of the conference teams will get rivalry matchups? There are a handful of possibilities for intriguing matchups either in the first round or in the super regionals. Georgia Tech, for example, could potentially host both Georgia and Georgia Southern, two familiar in-state rivals. South Carolina and Clemson could be paired up to meet in a super regional, as could Florida and Florida State. Miami could end up traveling to Gainesville to take on the Gators in the first round as well.

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2011 ACC Baseball Championship: Virginia Defeats FSU 7-2 To Win ACC Title

2011-05-29T20:20:47Z

The Virginia Cavaliers beat Florida State Sunday afternoon 7-2 to cap an impressive performance at the 2011 ACC Tournament. The Cavaliers were one of the nation's best teams all season and proved that again in Durham this weekend.

After Florida State scored a run in the top of the first inning, Virginia catcher John Hicks hit a monster two-run home run to left field. Both teams were held scoreless after that until the sixth, when FSU tied up the game on a Justin Gonzalez home run. Steven Proscia, the tournament Most Outstanding Player, hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth to give Virginia the lead for good. Chris Taylor gave the Cavaliers some breathing room in the seventh inning with his own two-run home run.

Virginia starting pitcher Danny Hultzen picked up the win and continued his great season, throwing 6.0 innings, allowing two earned runs and striking out five while only walking one batter.

The Cavaliers will get one of the national seeds and should be ranked as one of the top two or three teams in the tournament. Florida State is right on the bubble for a national seed and will have to wait until Monday to see if they have done enough to get home field advantage through the super regionals.

Virginia fans, according to recent history, you can go ahead and book your trip to Omaha for late June. The ACC Champions from the last five years have all made it to the College World Series.

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2011 ACC Baseball Tournament Championship Game: Virginia And Florida State To Battle Sunday For Title

2011-05-29T12:00:49Z

Saturday was one of the more hectic days in recent memory in ACC baseball, and after the final pitch was thrown, the two top-seeded teams advanced to Sunday's championship game at 1 p.m that can be seen on Fox Sports South. The last five ACC Champions have advanced to the College World Series; who will take home the conference bragging rights for 2011?

No. 2 Florida State defeated No. 3 Georgia Tech 4-2

Starting pitcher Buck Farmer struggled with command early in the game for the Jackets, and FSU was able to jump out to a 4-0 lead through four innings. Tech had its chances later, loading the bases in the sixth inning but failing to score and then scoring two but leaving three on base again in the seventh. Mike McGee didn't allow a hit until the fifth inning and finished with 5.1 innings and no runs allowed to get the win for FSU. Farmer picked up the loss, allowing three earned runs in 6.0 innings to fall to 10-3 on the season.

While the early morning win didn't clinch a championship game berth for FSU, the Seminoles only had to wait a couple of hours for that to happen. 2011 marks the 10th time in the last 20 years that Florida State has played for the ACC Championship. The loss most likely knocked Georgia Tech out of the running for a national seed, while Florida State greatly improved their chances of getting one.

No. 6 Clemson defeated No. 7 NC State 6-3

Clemson was eliminated with the Florida State win, but that didn't stop the Tigers from coming from behind to get the victory to send the Seminoles on to Sunday. Will Lamb, Richie Shaffer, and Chris Epps all homered for the Tigers to overcome an early 2-0 deficit. Clemson starting pitcher Jonathan Meyer was knocked out of the game early after taking a line drive to the knee, and the Tiger bullpen combined to pitch 7.2 innings of one-run baseball.

Clemson was on the bubble of being able to host a regional next week and seems to have done enough in Durham to improve their resume to get a home game in the first round.

No. 4 North Carolina defeated No. 8 Wake Forest 9-0

After being delayed in the seventh inning Saturday morning at 1:55 a.m with North Carolina leading 5-0 and with two runners on base, the game resumed at 4:32 p.m. on Saturday. The first batter after the delay, Tommy Coyle, doubled in both runners and then was knocked in by Jacob Stallings to quickly make the score 8-0.

North Carolina will get one of the eight national seeds and gets to enjoy home field advantage through the super regionals.

No. 4 Miami defeated No. 8 Wake Forest 4-2

The Hurricanes scored four runs in the first three innings and held onto that lead for the win. Wake Forest reliever Michael Dimock was stellar out of the bullpen, throwing 4.1 innings without allowing a run after replacing starter Austin Stadler. The Miami win clinched a title game berth for the Virginia Cavaliers who had yet to play on Saturday.

Miami will wait until the bracket is announced to find out where they will be heading next week.

No. 1 Virginia defeated No. 5 North Carolina 3-2

The game between two probable national seeds didn't mean anything in terms of the ACC Championship after Miami beat Wake Forest, but the two teams put on an entertaining battle that neither team wanted to lose. Virgina advances to its third title game in the last four years.

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