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Ed. Note: Apologies for the tardiness of this post. It's just been that kind of week.
After sweeping inter-state rivals uga and Georgia State this week, the Jackets move on to take on the Virginia Tech Hokies for a three-game series.
The Hokies' offense has been very good this year. They have three players who are all hitting above .300 and their combined home run total is a ridiculous 13 home runs.
The best of the trio is senior infielder Alex Perez. Perez is hitting .350 and has five triples and four home runs. He's also driven in 17 runs.
The other two are also pretty good. Senior infielders Erik Payne and Brendon Hayne combine with Perez to form a formidable offense in just the infield.
Payne is hitting .328 with three home runs and 26 RBI. Hayne is hitting .325 with six home runs and 28 RBI.
The Hokies' pitching staff isn't quite as good as the offense. Their best reliever is sophomore right-hander Luke Scherzer (no relation to Max as best as I could tell). Scherzer is 1-2 with a 3.10 ERA in his 14 appearances and also has three saves in 20.1 innings.
Game 1: Friday, April 3 @ 5:30 p.m.
Redshirt-sophomore left-hander Jonathan King will be going to the mound for the White and Gold. King is 2-1 with a 3.61 ERA. In his 42.1 innings, King has struck out 24 batters and walked 14 while holding batters to a .245 batting average.
Going to the mound for the Hokies is senior southpaw Sean Keselica. Keselica has been awesome for the Hokies this season. He is 4-1 with a team-leading ERA of 1.72. He has 39 strikeouts and 12 walks while holding opposing batters to a .196 batting average.
Game 2: Saturday, April 4 @ 2 p.m.
Redshirt-junior right-hander Cole Pitts will go to the mound for the Jackets in Game 2. Pitts is 0-3 with a 5.71 ERA. He has struck out 12 batters and walked 13 in his 17.1 innings and has held opposing batters to a .238 batting average.
His opponent will be sophomore right-hander Aaron McGarity. McGarity is 2-3 with a 5.01 ERA this season. He has struck out 29 batters and walked 12 in his 41.1 innings.
Game 3: Sunday, April 5 @ 1 p.m.
Sophomore right-hander Brandon Gold will finish the series out for the Jackets on the mound. After jumping out to a hot start, Gold has cooled off considerably, but is still 3-1 with a 2.23 ERA. He has struck out 35 batters and walked 11 in his 40.1 innings.
His opponent will be redshirt-junior southpaw Jon Woodcock, who has been pretty good this season too. Woodcock is 2-1 with a 3.38 ERA. He has struck out a team-leading 43 batters and walked 18 in his 42.2 innings while holding opposing batters to a team-low .184 batting average.
How does Tech do against the Hokies?