Georgia Tech Baseball: Previewing No. 7 Louisville

The No. 7 Louisville Cardinals (18-7, 8-1 ACC) will play host to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (17-7, 5-4 ACC) for a three-game series this weekend.

As their ranking indicates, Louisville has been pretty solid this year. They currently have three players hitting above .300: senior Sutton Whiting, freshman Brendan McKay and sophomore Corey Ray.

Whiting has been the Cards' best player this season. In his 25 games, he has hit .406 while also hitting seven extra-base hits and driving in nine runs. He's also capable of producing runs and getting into position to score as he has stolen eight bases this season.

McKay is hitting .309, but he's not quite the offensive threat that Whiting or Ray are. Ray is hitting .301 with three home runs and 18 RBI.

Louisville has two pitchers coming from their bullpen with four saves, though recently one of those guys, freshman Brendan McKay (the same from above) moved to the rotation.

The other pitcher is sophomore left-hander Drew Harrington. In his 10 appearances, Harrington is 2-1 with a 0.41 ERA and 32 strikeouts with six walks.

Game 1: Friday, March 27 @ 4 p.m.

In game one, the Jackets will be sending redshirt sophomore southpaw Jonathan King to the mound. King is 2-0 with a 3.28 ERA and 22 strikeouts. He is also holding opposing batters to a .228 batting average.

King's opponent will be junior right-hander Kyle Funkhouser. In his six starts, Funkhouser is 2-2 with a 2.61 ERA and a team-leading 42 strikeouts in 38.0 innings.

Game 2: Saturday, March 28 @ 1 p.m.

Game two will see redshirt junior Cole Pitts go to the mound for the Jackets. Pitts is 0-2 with a 3.31 ERA. He's got 11 strikeouts and has held opposing batters to a .224 batting average.

His opponent will be freshman southpaw Brendan McKay, a guy that has come up a lot in this article. McKay is 3-0 with a 1.04 ERA. He's tied with Funkhouser for the team-lead in strikeouts with 42, but has achieved that feat in 12.0 less innings and with eight less walks. McKay has also held batters to a .115 batting average.

Game 3: Sunday, March 29 @ 1 p.m.

Game three will see sophomore right-hander Brandon Gold. In spite of a rough start last weekend, he has still been the best pitcher on the staff this season. He is 3-0 with a 1.83 ERA and has struck out a team-leading 32 batters in his 34.1 innings.

His opponent will be sophomore left-hander Josh Rogers. Rogers is 3-1 with a 4.41 ERA and has struck out 29 batters and walked nine.

What are your thoughts on this series?