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College  | Story  | 3/27/2016

Georgia Tech claims series

Jheremy Brown      Patrick Ebert      Andrew Krause      Mike Rooney     
Photo: Ken Langley/GT Athletics




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Georgia Tech 6, No. 5 North Carolina 0

Georgia Tech did a really nice job on the road taking two of three from the fifth-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels. This was an evenly matched series, as the first game could really have gone to either team before they swapped shutouts with one another on Friday and Saturday.

GT starter Zac Ryan was efficient on the mound on Saturday as he and Burton Dulaney combined on the four-hit shutout. Ryan picked up his first win of the year (1-0) while Dulaney recorded his second save in old-school fashion.

For the most part Ryan sat in the upper-80s with his fastball and touched 90 mph. He did a nice job staying out of the middle of the zone and hit the outside corners to both right and lefthanded batters effectively. He also showed good sequencing between his fastball and slider, which hovered right around 80 mph, to keep the UNC batters off balance throughout his size innings.

Rounding out the weekend rotation for the Tar Heel rotation was sophomore righthander Jason Morgan, who despite not having his best stuff was able to compete through five innings. Listed at 6-foot-6, 204-pounds, Morgan is able to use the height to his advantage as he’s able to create solid leverage, which in turn can instill hard sinking action to his fastball.




Opening up the game in the 90-92 mph range, Morgan did a nice job of carrying that velocity throughout the first couple of frames, bumping some 93s. Prior to the game I had heard that he sits in the 90-94 mph with harder sinking life than he showed Saturday afternoon. Despite being listed at 6-foot-6, Morgan maintained balance through his delivery well and was able to fill up the strike zone by staying short and compact through the back with his arm action. Part of the reason for Morgan’s ability to sink the ball as well as he can is the extension he generates out front upon release.

He also did a nice job of holding the velocity out of the stretch as he doesn’t exert much effort and there’s reason to believe more velocity will come with additional strength gains to his long and lean frame. The changeup is a pitch he showed confidence in throwing though there were a few he didn’t finish and left up in the zone with led to a few of the seven hits he allowed. When he worked the 82-84 mph pitch to the bottom of the zone it showed late tumbling life that’s capable of producing ground ball contact, much like his fastball does.

The breaking ball is a pitch that continued to develop in this outing for Morgan and continued to improve each time he threw it. A consistent upper-70s pitch that bumped an 80, Morgan’s curveball showed slider tilt at times with consistent depth, a pitch that runs away from righthanders when at its best.

Though he’s the Tar Heels No. 3 arm in the weekend rotation, Morgan shows high upside as a pro prospect and will be a vital piece to North Carolina’s success, both this spring and next. And for as much as we discuss the depth of the Florida Gators pitching staff, and rightfully so, every arm the Heels rolled out, including Morgan, showed big fastball velocity and quality feel for their off-speed.

However, on this day he was saddled with the loss to move to 2-2 on the year. The big blow was a two-run bomb off the bat of former PG All-American Kel Johnson, which gave Georgia Tech some much-needed breathing room in Morgan’s fifth and final inning of work.

Georgia Tech added three more runs in the seventh courtesy of some sloppy play. After leadoff hitter Wade Bailey led off the frame with a solo shot, a couple of wild pitches, a walk, a hit-by-pitch and a throwing error (with two outs) led to two more runs, and ultimately, a Georgia Tech win.



National Notes

• Vanderbilt may have beat Missouri 2-0 in 11 innings on Saturday, but the biggest story from the game was Tanner Houck going the distance (well, at least the normal nine inning distance), striking out 14 while allowing just two hits and two walks. His fastball peaked in the mid-90s and he wasn't afraid to climb the ladder with it to record several of those strikeouts swinging, while has late-breaking, hard-biting slider was also on. Kyle Wright was almost equally as dominant for the Commodores, going the first six frames, allowing three hits and four walks without giving up a run and striking out 10. Jason Delay and Alonzo Jones both hit RBI singles in the top of the 11th inning to score the game’s only runs.

• South Carolina is due for a huge jump in the rankings come Monday after sweeping Ole Miss in Oxford. That is their second sweep in a row to open SEC play, and they closed it out in impressive fashion with a 4-0 win on Saturday. The Gamecocks got to freshman starter Andy Pagnozzi early, scoring three runs in the first inning. From there Adam Hill once again stole the show, moving to 5-0 on the year by tossing the first six scoreless innings in the game.

• After losing a close contest on Friday night, Texas A&M rebounded to post a 3-1 series-clinching victory over visiting LSU. Junior outfielder Nick Banks, who had been kept quiet for most of the weekend, was moved down to the seven-spot in the Texas A&M lineup and he responded well. Banks' solo homer in the fifth inning gave the Aggies a one-run lead while senior Hunter Melton's eighth inning triple helped them add an insurance run. Texas A&M now heads into their big showdown with Florida with a pair of SEC series wins, while LSU has to travel to Auburn next weekend.

• Florida's 17-game winning streak was snapped as they fell to Kentucky in Lexington on Saturday. The Wildcats evened the series at one apiece, and were able to take advantage of some mistakes from Gator southpaw A.J. Puk. Puk had good stuff, with his fastball living in the 92-95 mph range, but he gave up a pair of home runs – a solo shot to Evan White in the first inning and a three-run blast by Dorian Hairston in the fourth – which proved to be the difference in game which finished with a 7-4 final score. Kentucky senior Dustin Beggs has continued to be a vital piece of the Wildcat team, and he picked up his sixth victory of the season with a gutty effort (5 2/3 innings, 8 hits, 4 earned runs, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts).

• T.J. Zeuch was strong yet again this weekend. After throwing well against Florida State last weekend in his first start of the season due to a groin injury suffered right before the beginning of the season, the big junior righty fanned 11 hitters and allowed just one run over seven innings against Boston College. Unlike last weekend, Zeuch did not pick up the victory and had to a settle for a no-decision, but his Pittsburgh squad did rally for a 5-4 win.

• Towson head coach Mike Gottlieb picked up his 700th career victory as the Tigers beat Kennesaw State by the score of 6-5 on Saturday and secured a series victory over the Owls in the process. Gottlieb has been the head coach for Towson since 1988 and been a part of the program since 1978 when he arrived as a junior college transfer and played first base for the Tigers.

• The Utah offense exploded for 23 hits and 16 runs to win the series over Arizona State and move to 4-2 in the Pac-12. That is huge because the Utes have finished 11th in all three of their Pac-12 seasons and they averaged just six conference wins in those campaigns. Friday night ace Jayson Rose has been a key as Utah has now won both opening games in their two Pac-12 series. Dylan Drachler now has three saves and he has been really effective out of the bullpen this year. The future may be even brighter for Utah as freshman outfielder DaShawn Keirsey, Jr. leads the club in hitting at .328.

• Cal won game three to sweep Pac-12 favorite Oregon State in Berkeley. Despite the big loss of two-way star Lucas Erceg in the offseason, one of the reasons many still felt bullish on the Bears this season was the depth of their rotation. That depth won the day in game three as starter Jeff Bain yielded three runs in the first while recording just one out.  In one of the craziest boxscores you will ever see, lefthander Matt Ladrech then followed Bain with 7 2/3 innings of no-hit baseball. Ladrech is a pitchability lefty who throws a fastball in the 84-87 mph range. The separator for Ladrech is a plus changeup that can be anywhere from 74-78 mph. Ladrech pitches at a tempo that would make NASCAR proud so it's no surprise that Cal played great defense behind him.
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