:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70735092/278061816_10104599514632729_5692928755217627464_n.0.jpeg)
ATLANTA, GEORGIA — Once again, softball loses an eminently winnable game due to the peculiarities of spring weather in Atlanta. Even on Sunday, the cold that followed the midweek rainstorm is around, though not enough to dissuade Sunday from upward temperatures and an objectively fantastic day in Midtown. Tech, on the whole, had a fairly ordinary week, as far as sports are concerned. We, of course, will dive into them as usual after a brief programming note.
First and foremost, the winner of the sports theme bracket was the Olympic Theme. Thanks to all who participated. It was esoteric, but also a lot of fun.
Second, as announced on last week’s episode, there will be no episode of Scions of the Southland this week due to travel considerations for our producer. We hope you will tune in next week for a recap of the news from this past week, as well as the one to come. In the meantime, keep reading for more news from the past week.
Softball
Overall: 27-12 | Last Week: 2-1
Polls: RV - 36 (USA Softball)
RPI: 30
Troy: Postponed due to weather. Honestly, earlier in the season, there was some concern amongst myself and Scions cohost Akshay that the team might need to be in the business of piling up wins in advance of the tournament, but with how they have been playing this whole season, they currently sit 30th in RPI, and, well, they’ve done a great job of doing just that. The theme of the season, then, should be to continue taking care of business, even if some of the polls, in this site’s editorial opinion, overreacted by dropping them down or out of the receiving votes categories of various polls. Hopefully that nonsense abates.
Boston College - [W] 3-1 (11): Tech started the series off with a nail biter, continuing the theme from the previous weekend. The Jackets scored first in the fourth inning, knocking in a run, but once the Eagles answered right back with a run in the fifth. The score wouldn’t budge until the 11th after that, when Tech knocked two home on a solid base hit to unknot the game. Of course, to that point, it was largely credit to the pitchers, who were able to combine for a 11 inning, 1 run, 6 hit gem, with Blake Neleman pitching 9 innings before Chandler Dennis relieved her for two scoreless frames. It was tenuous there, too, for a minute, as Boston College had runners in scoring position and was threatening before Tech ended the threat and tacked on their final two runs.
Boston College - [W] 14-2 (5): Tech’s bats woke up on Saturday, with the Jackets tagging BC early and often for runs. Boston College scored first, but Dennis would again do well keeping them off the board, as they would manage just 1 more after that, while Tech, led by 3 hits from Emma Kauf, managed to see every starter both get at least one hit and score at least one run. That, my friends, is called a solid performance at the plate.
Boston College - [L] 4-0: I’m not much of a proponent of “saving runs,” because that, as a concept, doesn’t really exist, but Tech’s bats were mostly quiet on Sunday. Of course, Tech already had the series won at that point, but BC managed four runs — not an overwhelming amount, for sure, and pitching held the hosts to just four hits. Kauf had Tech’s lone hit, though Tricia Awald did walk twice.
Men’s Tennis
Overall: 8-11 | Last Week: 0-2
Rankings - ITA: 56
It was a tough weekend overall for the tennis teams, as they each faced a pair of tough Tobacco Road opponents. Among the men, they continued their road swing with appearances at NC State and Wake Forest. In the Friday match, Tech notched a single point, Andres Martin’s win on court one. Two courts were left unfinished in singles, while Tech also managed a win on one doubles court, via Martin and Marcus McDaniel. On Sunday, Tech followed that up with another tough outing, falling 6-1 at Wake Forest. Keshav Chopra was Tech’s lone winner on the day in Winston-Salem.
Women’s Tennis
Overall: 12-8 | Last Week: 0-2
Rankings - ITA: 31
Continuing the theme, the women also had a tough slate, as they visited another pair of well-regarded Triangle teams, #10 Duke and #1 North Carolina. On Friday, they were in Durham and managed two point in their loss to the Blue Devils, with the points coming by way of Carol Lee and Ava Hrastar in singles. However, they also managed one double court win, with the excellent pairing of Lee and Kate Sharabura once again managing a win. On Sunday, things were a bit tougher sledding for the Jackets, as they were up against the best team in the country. However, that being said, three of the Tar Heels’ seven points came in third set 1-0 tiebreaks, which aren’t real sets, so the result is not as bad as the score might appear on a quick glance. That being said, that still is about all to be written about the day in general. On to next week.
In the Club House:
Georgia Tech Men’s Lacrosse followed the softball team up to Boston this weekend, as the Jackets went up north to face off against New Hampshire (RV) and #15 Northeastern. In the first game of the weekend, New Hampshire got on the board first before eight straight goals for the Jackets put them ahead for good. New Hampshire got within four before the #8 team in the country pulled away to a 14-8 win. Per Twitter, Devin had a double hat trick on the evening, and given that a look at their roster yields just a Devin Raun, we will assume it was him. Congratulations, Devin.
Tech’s second game of the weekend came against Northeastern, and it was a much tighter affair than the first. Tech and their hosts mostly traded goals throughout the contest, with Tech slowly able to edge in front, to a steady 2 to 3 goal lead. The final score on the way to an undefeated weekend was 11-9 in favor of Tech.
Georgia Tech Women’s Lacrosse headed to the SWLL playoffs this weekend, but the results of the weekend are unknown to this point. We will keep you posted as any details arise.
Also of note, the Georgia Tech Swim Club hosted the 2022 College Club Swimming National Championships this weekend at McAuley Aquatic Center, which regularly sees upwards of 2,000 swimmers compete in a given year, and fittingly returned home to Atlanta where it began after a few pandemic and bid-related years away from McAuley. Georgia Tech entered into the meet having won every CCS Nationals that had been contested since 2017, though the 2021 meets comes with the hefty asterisk of being swum at a variety of remote sites, rather than its more traditional form. With just a handful of swimmers left from that last championship in 2019, it would be very interesting to see how Tech stacked up against not just the existing swimming powers, but the likes of Michigan State and other schools that lost their varsity status due to pandemic budget cuts. Thank goodness they gave Mel Tucker $95,000,000, though!
As for the actual swimming, Tech has long racked up records, points, and great swims at the meet. It continued this year, with both the men’s and women’s teams being in contention for top five finishes up to the very end, even if they were off the standard they had held up in past years. The aforementioned Michigan State knocked off a plainly unfortunate Virginia team that has been knocking on the door of a title since their last win in 2017. Florida and Ohio State, too, have not been far behind for that whole time, as well. Really, outside the usurpers from East Lansing, the most notable finishes were the Athenians, who vaulted into 5th, after having great individual talent for years and turning that into a trophy finish with their performance this weekend, as well as the self-described Undefeated Hot Tub Champions™ Purdue, who finished just ahead of in-state rival Notre Dame, both vaulting over Indiana, to finish 7th and 8th.
This Week:
Baseball:
4/12: Georgia State
4/15-17: at North Carolina
Softball:
4/13: at Alabama-Birmingham
4/15-17: NC State
Women’s Tennis:
4/15: Virginia Tech
4/17: Virginia
Men’s Tennis:
4/14: Miami
4/16: Florida State
Track and Field:
4/15-16: Auburn War Eagle Invitational (Auburn, AL)
Volleyball:
4/16: Round Robin Exhibition (Atlanta, GA)