Yellow Jacket Roundup: Beyond the Outfield Fence

COLLEGE PARK, GEORGIA - Women’s tennis finally had that match we’ve been waiting for in their upset of No. 11 Northwestern, among other news.

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No. 4 Men’s Golf:

The men are in Puerto Rico, currently holding strong in third place. The tournament wraps up Tuesday, so check back in next week for more information.

This week: Tech remains active in Puerto Rico through the holiday weekend.

Women’s Basketball:

Sunday, February 17th: Georgia Tech (16 - 9) takes their third straight, this time over Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (16 - 9), 76-68.

It was a light week for the Jackets, as they played just one game. The Hokies came in with a better record than Tech, but the Jackets were able to defend home turf against a team that, to borrow a phrase, “got old and stayed old.” Tech needed to lock down a couple more wins to improve its resume, and this one was a key game in that cycle. Francesca Pan tied her career high for points as the Jackets kept the Hokies at arms length for the most part, despite never truly putting them away. Tech sometimes settled for threes when a drive might have been better, and seemed a little lost in sharp offensive execution, but with a couple players in foul trouble, that was a necessary adjustment. All in all, though, Tech won a solid but winnable game they certainly needed as we come down the stretch in the conference slate.

This week: Tech hosts Clemson and heads out to Charlottesville.

Women’s Tennis:

Tech women’s tennis finally had that breakout match we have been waiting for, as the Racket Jackets won five singles matches from the no. 11 Northwestern Wildcats in the win. Tech lost on the first two courts in doubles, but then proceeded to take courts two through six after Kenya Jones was upset on court one, with Jeanette Lin, Nami Otsuka, Valeriya Deminova, Victoria Flores, and Gia Cohen notching victories.

This week: Tech heads to Athens to face a school that apparently exists somewhere nearby, then returns for the second leg of a men’s and women’s tennis doubleheader for their conference opener against Pittsburgh.

Softball:

Wednesday, February 13th: Georgia Tech (3 - 2) defeats crosstown rival Georgia State (0 - 6), 8-3.

In their home opener, Tech managed to take their first game of the annual home-and-home against Georgia State, despite falling to them twice last year. Tech looked solid in their Mewborn Field debut, with the bats delivering with runners on in three different innings. They also capitalized on Panther mistakes with aggressive baserunning. The pitching got itself into a few jams, though, though after Tech allowed the guests to take a brief lead, they got their bats in gear and never looked back.

Friday, February 15th: Georgia Tech (4 - 2) smacks Michigan State (3 - 4), 11-2 (5).

Friday, February 15th: Georgia Tech (4 - 3) falls to Illinois in a rain-shortened contest (5 - 2), 15-10 (6).

Saturday, February 16th: Georgia Tech (5 - 3) sweeps Michigan State (3 - 6), 10-3.

Saturday, February 16th: Georgia Tech (5 - 4) gets swept by Illinois (7 - 2), 7-3.

The clearest thing we learned this weekend: Illinois is surprisingly good at softball, and the rain really can get to a team. That said, it would be foolish to completely write this weekend off as unimportant, as Tech did take two against a power 5 team. That said, I will remain skeptical of our pitching until proven otherwise. After losing a huge and highly capable portion of Tech’s quality innings, it seems as if the Jackets are streaky on the mound. When they’re on, they’re on. However, even a winless Georgia State team was able to have Tech running scared for an inning or so. That said, Tech’s defense looked pretty good, and the 10 runs they put up in the rain-shortened first game against the Fighting Illini was reason enough to believe that Tech, settled into its groove, will continue to grow this season.

This week: Tech plays Jacksonville State before heading to Starkville for a busy slate at Mississippi State.

Men’s Tennis:

It came down to, ironically enough, the doubles point, the first one played, on Saturday in Columbia. With the match moved up a day, Tech came the closest it had to-date to beating an SEC team this year. Tech won on court one, but the rest of doubles went to the home team. Meanwhile, on the singles side of things, despite Philip Gresk, Andrew Li, and Chris Yun winning, the other three fell. Carlos Divar wasn’t particularly close to a win, but Gromley took his challenger to a second set tiebreak after losing a close first set, only to fall in two sets anyways. Meanwhile Joseph Gandolfo went to three sets but was also unable to close it out. However, the men’s team is trending in the right direction, which is good, as they get more into their season. This is the kind of close loss that Tech wouldn’t have stood a chance in last year, so the improvement is very welcome.

This week: Tech takes on Miami to own conference play, as well as hosting out-of-conference foe Tennessee.

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For Men’s Basketball Coverage:

The Jackets fell to no. 17 Florida State Saturday at McCamish Pavilion. I watched exactly none of the game, so I couldn’t really give much of a helpful recap, but after perusing the box score, the numbers seem to hold up the 69-47 score. Here at Yellow Jacket Roundup, I usually refrain from mixing revenue sports in but, at the least, with the season all but mooted, I will say I remain high on two freshmen, Michael Devoe and Khaled Moore, and hopeful the addition of Jordan Usher to one more year of James Banks, plus a returning Jose Alvarado, might be able to make something work.

For Baseball Coverage:

click here for Friday and here for Saturday

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This Week on the Flats:

BOLD for home, REGULAR for away, ITALIC for time and location

Monday:
Men’s Golf at the Puerto Rico Classic
All day, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico

Tuesday:
Men’s Golf at the Puerto Rico Classic
All day, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico

Baseball at Georgia Southern
6:00 PM, Statesboro, GA, ESPN3 and WREK 91.1

Wednesday:
Women’s Swimming and Diving at ACC Championships
All day, Greensboro, NC

Softball vs. Jacksonville State
5:00 PM, Mewborn Field, ACC Network Extra and WREK 91.1

Men’s Basketball vs. Pittsburgh
9:00 PM, McCamish Pavilion, RSNs, and the Georgia Tech IMG Basketball Radio Network (WCNN 680 AM / 93.7 FM Atlanta)

Thursday:
Women’s Swimming and Diving at ACC Championships
All day, Greensboro, NC

Track and Field at ACC Indoor Championships
All day, Blacksburg, VA

Women’s Basketball vs. Clemson
7:00 PM, McCamish Pavilion, ACC Network Extra and WREK 91.1

Friday:
Women’s Swimming and Diving at ACC Championships
All day, Greensboro, NC

Track and Field at ACC Indoor Championships
All day, Blacksburg, VA

Men’s Tennis at Miami
2:00 PM, Coral Gables, FL

Softball vs. Southeastern Louisiana (Mississippi State Tournament)
1:30 PM CT, Starkville, MS

Baseball vs. UCLA
4:00 PM, Russ Chandler Stadium, ACC Network Extra and WREK 91.1

Softball at Mississippi State (Mississippi State Tournament)
4:00 PM CT, Starkville, MS

Saturday:
Women’s Swimming and Diving at ACC Championships
All day, Greensboro, NC

Track and Field at ACC Indoor Championships
All day, Blacksburg, VA

Softball vs. Alcorn State (Mississippi State Tournament)
11:00 AM CT, Starkville, MS (Game 1)
TBD, Starkville, MS (Game 2)

Women’s Tennis at the school out East
1:00 PM, Athens, GA

Men’s Basketball at Miami
2:00 PM, Coral Gables, FL, RSNs, and the Georgia Tech IMG Basketball Radio Network (WCNN 680 AM / 93.7 FM Atlanta)

Baseball vs. UCLA
2:00 PM, Russ Chandler Stadium, ACC Network Extra and WREK 91.1

Sunday:
Men’s Tennis vs. Tennessee
11:00 AM, Ken Byers Tennis Complex

Baseball vs. UCLA
1:00 PM, Russ Chandler Stadium, ACC Network Extra and WREK 91.1

Women’s Tennis vs. Pittsburgh
2:00 PM, Ken Byers Tennis Complex

Women’s Basketball at Virginia
3:00 PM, Charlottesville, VA, RSNs

Softball vs. TBD (Mississippi State Tournament)
TBD, Starkville, MS