Georgia Tech vs Mercer - NCAA Regional Baseball Recap

(No. 8 National Seed) Georgia Tech 10, Mercer 0

Mark Pope showed no mercy to the Mercer Bears' batting order. As a result, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets put themselves in prime position to advance in the NCAA Tournament.

Mark Pope pitched a complete-game shutout and Tony Plagman went 5-for-5 at the plate, including a pair of home runs, as Georgia Tech whitewashed Mercer 10-0 in the opening round of the NCAA baseball tournament's Atlanta Regional Friday night.

The top-seeded Yellow Jackets will play No. 2 seed Alabama Saturday at 7 p.m. Eastern. Mercer will face Elon Saturday at 3 p.m. in an elimination game.

A Russ Chandler Stadium crowd watched Pope allow only five hits and two walks while striking out 10. He improved his record to 8-1 on the season.

Pope danced out of trouble in the fourth and fifth, staying low in the strike zone to get hitters off balance and coax ground-ball outs when he needed them. He wasn't threatened in the late innings.

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Plagman, his teammate, gave Pope all the help he would need... and then some. His five base knocks were a career high. What was also important is that his two homers came early in the game, giving the Jackets the strong start they were hoping for. His two long taters were not empty window dressing; they were essential to Tech's cause.

Both of his shots came off beleaguered Mercer starter Brandon Love, who just didn't have any answers. Love, who entered the game with a 6.19 ERA, saw his record drop to 8-4 on the season, allowing seven hits, one walk, and five earned runs in only 3 1/3 innings of work.

When Georgia Tech plays Alabama on Saturday, both teams will be able to go to their bullpen whenever they want to. Bama got seven innings out of its starter on Friday, but with Pope's gem, the Yellow Jackets have an even more rested corps of relievers. It will be interesting to see if Bama-Tech becomes a late-inning war of attrition.

By: Justin Clark
ACC Fans Guest Writer