26 • Friday, April 9, 2004 • Technique SPORTS

enal for the first part of the season. able to manage to pull two wins out tions. from page 28 Freshman Lee Hyde has done a re- of it. If the Jackets have dreams of “We swung the bats very well Hewitt from page 28 a near inside the ballpark homer markable job as the midweek starter Omaha, they can’t afford to give up probably the last two weeks, and we who understand what it takes to be against Georgia Southern a few weeks for Tech. Hyde has a 2-1 record in leads to the competition that they are swinging it like we thought we successful in the classroom and on ago. He has only committed two 10 appearances on the season with a will be facing down the stretch. would from the beginning, but it the playing field.” errors this season giving him an im- 4.32 ERA. Brian Burks, Andrew “We have to continue to pitch just took us a little longer to get Hewitt’s allegiance to Braine and pressive .986 fielding percentage. Kown and Micah Owings have made better. We need to get a little better going than we thought,” Hall said. Clough is understandable. Despite Patterson has helped to turn 17 dou- up the weekend rotation to this point effort out of our . Those are “I think that our guys are play- a 16-15 campaign in 2002-20003, ble plays. in the season. They have a things that we’ve been try- ing with a lot of confidence right a season that was largely viewed as On the speed of Patterson, Coach combined 9-5 record ing to solve over the now.” an underachieving one, Braine gave Hall said, “We have several guys in 24 starts. last few weeks, Hewitt a vote of confidence by of- that I give the green light to, and let “Our starters and we’ve seen Defense: A+ fering him a rollover contract that them run whenever they feel like have done a flashes of The defense has been the area of bumped his salary up to $750,000 they can run. Paterson is a great great job,” our bull- the great improvement for the team annually. base stealer.” Hall said. pen this year. The past few years the Hewitt had been adamant that Kown pitch- fielding has been their Achilles heel, he would remain at Georgia Tech as Shortstop: B- has a 4-1 ing very but this year the defense has kept long as Braine and Clough are in Tyler Greene is one of only three record good, them in the games. The Jackets have the picture. Tech’s head coach had Tech players to start every game this and has but we a .970 fielding percentage and have been forced to deny interest in the season, and is hitting a respectable pitched still committed only 35 errors on the St. John’s vacancy ad nauseam over .298 at the plate. Greene has been the only need to season. “That has been one of our the past few weeks because his New hit by seven pitches on the season, complete keep bright spots. That has been one York ties made the move seem feasi- and has hit 11 doubles out of his game of the working reason that we’ve improved,” Hall ble. He was raised in the Long Is- thirty-six hits. year for to get bet- said on his team’s defense. land area and has a deep connection Tech. ter,” Hall to the Northeast, but Hewitt’s home Third Base: C He has struck said. Close Games: C is clearly in Atlanta for the time Third base is one of the areas out 47 of the oppo- Owings will be Tech is 2-1 in extra inning games, being. that Tech must improve on in order sition hitters on the sea- a needed addition to and they are only 7-7 in games de- The news comes as sweet music to make a post season run. Wes son, and opponents have only hit the bullpen. Freshman John cided by three runs or less. Tech has for Tech. Hewitt will return the Hodges has started the majority of .238 against him. Owings has a 3-2 Goodman has pitched well at times, played a tough schedule. They have bulk of his lineup in 2004-2005, as the games at third base. Hodges is record with an ERA of 3.99 with but will need to continue to im- played eight games against teams well as adding four sensational fresh- hitting .333 on the season with a opponents hitting .215 off of him. prove. Ryan Self has done the best ranked in the top 25, and have a man recruits. A possible fifth, Ran- team-high 12 doubles. A major plus Owings has struck out 50 this sea- job out of the bullpen. Self has pitched record of 3-5 against them. The dolph Morris, could give the Jackets for Hodges is that he puts the ball in son. One of Owings wins came in 15 games, and has only given up team’s record could have been 5-3 the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class play. His defense has been shaky at against UGA when he came out of three earned runs in 10 innings had they not given up a few late next season. Morris has narrowed times, however. the bullpen pitching over three in- pitched. inning leads, but with maturity the his choices down to Tech, Kentucky, nings without giving up a single wins will come. and the NBA. Outfield: B+ run. Offense: A “We’ve lost a few tough ones, “We’re going to have Paul for a Tech’s outfield has overcome the Brian Burks has a 2-2 record with The Jackets offensive attack went and I think that down the stretch while, and that means an awful lot loss of Jeremy Slayden nine games a 3.45 era in eight starts. He has idle for a two-week stretch of the we will win those games,” Hall said. to the stability of the program,” Braine into the season when he tore his struck out 43 batters on the season. season, but has been revitalized as of said. rotator cuff. Brandon Boggs has start- A few of Burks no decisions could late. The Jackets went out to Cali- Overall: B+ Hewitt, the 2001 ACC coach of ed every game this year, and Steven have been wins, but the bullpen was fornia in the early part of the season, Tech has had a roller coaster sea- the Year, is 142-81 in seven seasons Blackwood has been a solid con- not able to hold the lead for him. but the team struggled against the son, but the team is starting to come as a head coach. He was 66-27 at tributor. Remole has proven him- “Burks and Kown are going to West Coast teams. together. If the bullpen can catch Siena College in New York from self to be a solid replacement in be starters for sure, but the Sunday The Jackets found their stride in up with the rest of the team, the 1997-2000. right field for the fallen Slayden. starter will be TBA,” Hall said, when mid-March against Purdue. As a Jackets will have a great chance in After apprenticing under coach- Boggs is hitting .371 on the year. explaining his weekend rotation. team, they are hitting .322 with 35 June to have another magical run to ing great George Raveling at the Boggs and Blackwood have both home runs. The team has scored Omaha. University of Southern California committed two errors on the sea- Relief Pitching: C- 270 runs on the year, and the only The swagger is coming back to many years ago, Hewitt learned a son. Blackwood is third on the team Tech’s relief pitching has been glitch at the plate has been the fre- Tech and that can be dangerous for valuable lesson concerning the col- with 10 doubles on the season. the one area that needs the most quency in which they ground into their opposition to see. Tech will lege coaching industry. “If you do improvement. Tech’s bullpen has plays. They have only hit take its newfound confidence on your job well,” Hewitt said, “people Starting Pitching: A allowed late inning rallies nine times into 27 double plays on the year, the road to No. 14 North Carolina will notice and compensate you fair- The starters have been phenom- this year, and the team was only but they have been in crucial situa- this weekend. ly.” pick up a copy of the technique every friday SPORTS Technique • Friday, April 9, 2004 • 27 Owings pursues national championship instead of pros By Kyle Thomason son and Tyler Greene to play for ting average. Contributing Writer Team USA over what Owings says, Although the Jackets’ 17-13 “was one of the best and worst sum- record has not been quite what was “I believe he’ll be going [pro]. I mers of [his] life.” It ended in a expected, Owings asserts, “We’re a don’t think he’ll ever see Georgia silver medal at the Pan-American lot better than our record shows.” Tech. I think he’ll take that oppor- Games in the Dominican Republi- The goal for the team still re- tunity and go. Anywhere from round can. mains being crowned national cham- one through four, it’s tough to turn “Playing with and against the pion in Omaha this June. down,” commented Gainesville High best players in the world and with “We all believe that we have the School Coach Wayne Vickery after USA across the front of your jersey talent to win [the championship]. his star and infielder, Micah was just a remarkable experience,” We had dominant pitching at the Owings, was taken by the Colorado Owings said. “It was my first time first of the year, and we’ve had dom- Rockies as the No. 50 overall pick out of the country, and it was a inant hitting lately, we can just feel of the 2002 good learning experience being on that we’re so close to putting it to- draft. the road all summer.” gether,” Owings said. It was certainly a difficult deci- On the flip side, “for the first Owings moved to the bullpen sion for Owings. time in my life, I wasn’t playing and made his first relief appearance “It’s every kid’s dream to go play every day,” said Owings. of the year against Georgia on March professional baseball and not have 24 and tossed three and two-thirds to worry about school for a while,” shutout innings to close the game. said Owings, who at first was lean- After the performance, Danny Hall ing toward signing with the Rock- “I just want to get the said, “Micah has been our Friday ies. ball, it doesn’t matter night starter, but we’ve had some Owings decided not to rush thoughts of keeping him in the bull- things, and to take plenty of time to whether it’s to start or pen after the way he pitched up at consider his options. As the sum- close the game.” Georgia last week, and we have to mer wore on, negotiations with the decide what we are going to do with Rockies started to slow, and Ow- Micah Owings him.” ings’ turned to two pillars of his life, Pitcher/Infielder Many all-Americans would have his family and his faith, to lead him a tough time accepting a move from to the right decision. the number-one starter role to the That decision turned out to be This was a difficult adjustment bullpen, but Owings only cares about Owings turning down a high six- to make, and “I did not perform as winning. “I talked to coach and told digit signing bonus from the Rock- well as I would have liked,” Owings him that I wanted to do whatever he By Christopher Gooley / STUDENT PUBLICATIONS ies and heading to Tech. Owings’ said. thought would be best for the team,” Sophomore All-American Micah Owings led the Jackets in scoring father, Jim, is a Tech alumnus, and Although he was not playing all said Owings. against Georgia State Tuesday after he drove in five runs and a grand a former wide receiver and track all- the time, Owings certainly under- “I just want to get the ball, it slam. Owings has led his team in home runs, scoring 11 for the year. star for the Jackets. Owings came to stood the situation, “I wouldn’t want doesn’t matter whether it’s to start campus with high expectations, and to have to decide how to fill out that or close the game,” continued Ow- or Roll last year. Owings has another major busi- he was not disappointed. lineup with the twenty best college ings. This is yet another response “I’d like to be an entrepreneur ness decision ahead of him shortly. As a freshman, he was the ACC players in the country to choose not often associated with players of like my dad, although I don’t think Draft day will be a major event at Rookie of the Year and earned sec- from,” Owings said. Owings stress- Owings’ stature and all-American I’ll be following him into comput- the Owings household; both Micah ond team all-America honors as a es, “the good certainly outweighed status. ers,” said Owings. and his brother Jon Mark, a senior two-way player. He led the Jackets the bad.” Owings concentrates hard on his He has not narrowed his interest at Gainesville High School and Clem- with nine wins and 15 home runs, After a challenging summer on studies. “Time management is very down to a certain industry, but is son signee, will probably see their and showed his incredible versatili- the field, Owings is enjoying a stel- hard, but I feel like I’ve adjusted interested in the possibilities that names flash on draft day. ty when named to the all-ACC Tour- lar sophomore season. He currently well,” Owings said. exist in restaurants and landscaping “I don’t even have a timetable nament team as a third baseman. leads the Yellow Jackets with 10 His commitment to balancing industries. Owings also says that he set,” Owings said regarding the draft. Owings’ play his freshman year homeruns and 35 RBIs and has been school with the dozens of hours he would love the chance to open a “Right now, I’m just enjoying col- was so spectacular that he was se- a leader on the mound, posting sev- often has to commit to baseball during gym with his brother Josh, current- lege and concentrating on playing lected, along with three other Tech eral impressive performances and the week is reflected in his place- ly a trainer at Georgia’s Ramsey Cen- for Georgia Tech and trying to win players, Mike Nickeas, Eric Patter- holding opponents to a .215 bat- ment on the ACC Academic Hon- ter. a national championship.”

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www.best.nique.net 28 • Friday, April 9, 2004 • Technique pageSPORTS 28 Hewitt’s No. 1 fan Micah! Micah! Micah! While others jumped on the All-American sophomore Micah SPORTS basketball bandwagon late, fanatic Owings is having a stellar season for Sunny Khera has been with the team the Jackets. Find out about the man Technique • Friday, April 9, 2004 since the beginning. Page 12 behind the homeruns. Page 27 by Hewitt signs on for six more years sports the shorts numbers Cheerleaders place fourth at NCA Tech’s cheerleading squad fin- 130 ished in fourth place at the NCA Number of games Marvin Lewis Chick-Fil-A Cheer and Dance played in his Tech career. This ties Championships in Daytona Beach, him with Malcolm Mackey for the Florida. The team had a final score most games played in Tech history. of 8.71, less than a quarter of a point Along with Robert Brooks, he has behind second place finishers Hous- played under head coach Paul Hewitt ton and North Carolina State. Lou- for all four years that Hewitt has isville brought home this year’s title. been Tech. King Harrison and Mary Melis- sa Bailey put on an impressive per- formance in the Partner Stunt Finals and finished ninth out of the twen- 34 ty pairs that made it to the final round. Number of bench points Tech scored Buzz finished second in the mas- against UConn in the champion- cot competition. ship game, led by Will Bynum’s 17- Tech’s outstanding performance point effort. UConn’s bench can be seen on CBS Saturday, April accounted for only a single point. 17 at 2 p.m. Only the top five Divi- By Jamie Howell / STUDENT PUBLICATIONS sion I team’s performances will be Through his efforts to increase fan support, and coaching Tech to its most successful season in history, Paul Hewitt broadcast. 7 has become a favorite on the Tech campus. Hewitt signed a new deal last week to stay at Tech through 2010. By Ryan Peck 2010 season. The deal was finalized but guided the Jackets to a 28-10 Tech basketball The place that the men’s basketball Senior Staff Writer on April 1, but Tech fans and Hewitt record in 2003-2004, including a DVD available team was originally predicted to finish can rest assured that it was no April trip to the national title game. The in the ACC’s preseason media poll. Amid rampant internet and me- Fool’s joke. 28 wins tied a school single-season Orders are now being taken for a The team finished fourth in the ACC dia speculation that Hewitt was the “He’s going to be at Georgia Tech record (1990). DVD highlighting Tech’s memo- after a close loss to Duke in the top target for the vacant St. John’s for a good while,” Braine said. “I “It really wasn’t a pressing issue rable season. They include exclu- ACC semifinals. job, Athletics Director Dave Braine know he’s happy, and we sure are.” in my mind because I have a pretty sive behind-the-scenes footage and decided to put all the rumors to rest Hewitt, 40, became a hot com- good situation here,” Hewitt said capture the multitude of magic mo- last week. Braine did so by locking modity following a brilliant coach- last Thursday. “I have two people, ments from the Jackets’ remarkable up Hewitt with a six-year rollover ing job this season with the Jackets. in Dave Braine and Dr. Clough, run. To order the DVD, call 1-800- 2 deal that will pay him approximate- Hewitt entered this season with a 324-3875. The DVD costs $19.95 ly $1 million annually through the 48-44 record in three years at Tech, See Hewitt, page 26 plus $5 shipping and handling. Place that Buzz finished in the mas- cot competition at the National Cheerleaders Association (NCA) Chick-Fil-A Cheer and Dance Championships in Daytona Beach. Midseason report: Jackets headed in right direction Buzz was just edged out by Missou- By Michael Clarke the bottom third of the lineup for ri’s Truman the Tiger. Contributing Writer the Jackets. Remole was the starting at the beginning of Tech’s baseball team is now past the season, but after the injury of 15 the midseason point. The team has Jeremy Slayden, he has an 18-13 record, and has started to split his time between first base and The number of batters Jessica Salinger come out of the slump that plagued the outfield. He has started in 29 struck out while tossing a one-hit them for much of the first half of games this season and has a .294 shutout against Georgia State on the season. Tech has seen its fair batting average. Remole has a field- Wednesday afternoon. She fanned share of ups and ing percentage of the first nine batters that she faced. downs this sea- .970. Freshman Teammate Erin Voeltz tossed a three- son, and now it’s Whit Robbins hit shutout in the nightcap of the time to find out “We have several has also seen time doubleheader. what they are guys that I give the at first base this doing right and year. Robbins is which areas green light to, and let hitting 2.96, and might need im- them run whenever has only commit- 12 provement. ted one error on they feel like they can the season, giv- The number of different Tech play- Catching: A run.” ing him a .992 ers who scored at least one run in Mike Nick- fielding percent- Tuesday’s 25-3 win over Georgia eas has done an Danny Hall age. First base has State. Micah Owings crossed the outstanding job Head coach become a posi- plate four times and hit a grand behind the plate tion by commit- slam. this season. He tee with has started in 29 of the 31 games, Hawranick, Nickeas and Owings and has only committed one error. all seeing some time at first base in on Nickeas is hitting a respectable .306 addition to Robbins and Remole. By Jamie Howell / STUDENT PUBLICATIONS with a team leading 19 walks and At last weekend’s series against No. 5 Miami, the Jackets upset the deckk only 12 on the year. : A+ Hurricanes in the first game, but lost the following two games. The team His counterpart Andy Hawran- When Micah Owings is not pitch- came back in a big way Tuesday with a 25-3 win over Georgia State. Event Date ick has proven himself to be a solid ing, he sits in the DH spot. Owings

B vs. North Carolina 4/9-11 ○○○○○○ ○○○○○○○○○○○ backup, and has spent time as a DH is hitting .339 on the year, and he ing a lot of runs,” said Coach Danny second baseman in the country.

S vs. Virginia 4/10 ○○○○○○ ○○○○○○○○○○○ when he hasn’t been behind the plate. has 11 homeruns giving him a team- Hall. “He’s been hitting in the mid- Tech’s leadoff hitter has a .475 on

MT vs. Miami 4/11 ○○○○○○

○○○○○○○○○○○ Hawranick is hitting .333 and has a high of .667. dle of the order and swinging the base percentage, and has stolen 21 B- Baseball, S- Softball, MT- Men’s .513 slugging percentage. He has also driven in a team-high bat very well.” bases on the year. Patterson has hit

Tennis 40 runs on the year. four triples on the season including ○○○○○○ For○○○○○○○○○○○ complete updated schedules, First Base: B+ “He’s been hot, and that has been Second Base: A+ check out www.ramblinwreck.com. Clifton Remole usually hits in one of the reasons that we are scor- Eric Patterson is one of the top See Baseball, page 26