Technical Tidbits 4/12: Struggles Continue for Baseball, Brant Mitchell Ready to Step Up

A disappointing season continued on Tuesday for Georgia Tech baseball, as they dropped the first of three games this season against georgia 5-1.

Not much went right for the Jackets, who have now lost 4 straight. Tech fell behind early, giving up three runs in the bottom of the first and were never able to recover. The georgia pitching staff dominated the night with 6 pitchers combining to give up just 4 hits and 4 walks while striking out 15 Yellow Jackets. GT now sits at 16-15 overall with #2 Louisville coming to town for a three game series this weekend.

While Georgia Tech’s football returns a lot from a team that went 9-4 in 2016, one of the losses that looms large is that of LB P.J. Davis. One of the players who will be expected to step up to replace Davis’s productivity and leadership is Brant Mitchell. The rising junior started alongside Davis last season and finished fourth on the team in tackles but made few impact plays. At times last season, Mitchell struggled to shed blockers and diagnose plays something that DC Ted Roof told the AJC’s Ken Sugiura he is already showing improvements on in spring practice. While Mitchell will almost assuredly remain at interior linebacker instead of shifting over to directly replace Davis on the strong side, his growth as a playmaker and leader will be instrumental in the defense’s level of play in 2017.

Dipping our toes into some of the smaller sports on The Flats, the Georgia Tech tennis teams have both been having outstanding years. The women’s team currently sits at #6 in the ITA (Intercollegiate Tennis Association) rankings with a 20-2 record. Last weekend, they swept #33 Virginia to record their 14th consecutive win. On their side, the men are ranked #18 in the ITA rankings and sit at 15-3 overall. They’re led by Chris Eubanks who yesterday earned his 2nd ACC Player of the Week award in the last three weeks. Eubanks is the 5th ranked individual player in the nation and took down two ranked opponents in straight sets this weekend, helping the Yellow Jackets to a pair of 4-3 victories over Duke and Louisville.