—NCAA Regional at Atlanta
No. 3 MSU (36-23, finished second in the SEC West) v No. 1 Georgia Tech (42-20, finished second in ACC Coastal)
–Bulldogs beat Austin Peay and Southern Miss to advance to title game; Ga. Tech lost to Austin Peay on opening day and followed with wins over Southern Miss and Austin Peay in the loser”s bracket.
Game time: 6:06 p.m. (CDT)
Broadcast: CSS
—About the Yellow Jackets
After falling to No. 4 seed Austin Peay in the opening game of the Atlanta regional, the hosts bounced Southern Mississippi in an elimination game Saturday and stomped Austin Peay 12-2 today.
After eliminating two teams while facing elimination in both games, the Yellow Jackets must beat Mississippi State tonight and tomorrow to advance to face the winner of the Gainesville regional.
Obviously, the Yellow Jackets will have a one-hour turnaround before facing the Bulldogs.
When asked if MSU had an advantage having played just two games so far, Ga. Tech head coach Danny Hall said: “They”ve been in the hotel all day, I think it”s an advantage. But it doesn”t mean they”re gonna win.
One of the key stats for Ga. Tech is its bullpen hasn”t been worked in the three games its played in three days. Clay Dalton is the only question mark after pitching 1 1/3 innings in the win over Souther Miss.
Ga. Tech has used three relievers for a total of 3 2/3 innings this weekend, surrendering just one hit and no earned runs.
—Starting pitchers
—Ga. Tech.: Fr. RHP DeAndre Smelter (2-0, 0.00)
Smelter, who has made 15 starts in the outfield this season, is making his first start on the mound. In 15 innings in 13 appearances, he”s given up six runs (none earned) and 10 hits. He”s struck out eight and walked nine.
After playing in Game 1 today vs. Austin Peay, Hall said he”d monitor Smelter”s effectiveness closely. The thought of pitching Buck Farmer, who turned in a complete game against Austin Peay, was broached following the win over the Governor”s, but Hall wanted his strongest available arm on the mound in the elimination game.
“We didn”t want to toy too much with it,” Hall said. “It was Buck”s turn to throw, and we want to get to this game.
—MSU: Jr. LHP Nick Routt (2-3, 4.15)
Routt”s given up 13 hits in his last six innings (two starts) and surrendered 10 runs (only four earned).
Early against Arkansas, he got a string of 0-2 and 1-2 counts only to see the Razorbacks work back in the count and run up his pitch-count. He lasted 3 1/3 innings after giving up five runs (three earned).
Routt told me this week that he”s eager to try his new changeup, which has less pronation than the screwball-action changeup that was his go-to pitch but was the reason he had elbow surgery last season.
“It”s been working good (in practice),” Routt said. “I just kind of made up a grip that feels comfortable. (The new grip) takes some speed off it and hopefully makes it effective.”
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