Atlanta Regional Preview

2026 NCAA Baseball Tournament: Atlanta Regional

MAY 29- JUNE 1, 2026
MAC NEASE BASEBALL PARK AT RUSS CHANDLER STADIUM

ATLANTA REGIONAL SCHEDULE
FRIDAY MAY 29
Game 1: #1 Georgia Tech (48-9) vs. #4 UIC (27-27-1) – 12 p.m. – ACC Network – Live Stats
Game 2: #2 Oklahoma (32-21) vs. #3 The Citadel (35-24) – 5 p.m. – ESPN+ – Live Stats

SATURDAY MAY 30
Game 3: Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser – 1 p.m. – TV: TBA – Live Stats
Game 4: Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner – 6 p.m. – TV: TBA – Live Stats

SUNDAY MAY 31
Game 5: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Loser – 1 p.m. – TV: TBA – Live Stats
Game 6: Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner – 6 p.m. – TV: TBA – Live Stats

MONDAY JUNE 1
Game 7: Game 6 Winner vs. Game 6 Loser (If Necessary) – TBD

Talent
Play-by-Play: Mike Ferrin
Analyst: Gaby Sanchez
Radio: GT Gameday App 
Play-by-Play: Colin Lacy
Analyst: Wiley Ballard

GAMEDAY CENTRAL
Game Notes | Gameday Rosters

NCAA Tournament Notes

• The No. 2 national seeded Yellow Jackets enter their 37th NCAA Tournament with the highest seed in program history (tied with 2005) following a record-breaking season.
• Tech is hosting a regional for the 13^th time in program history, and first since 2019. The Jackets are hoping to advance to the super regional round for the sixth time in program history and first time since 2006.
• The Jackets are 80-73 (.523) all-time in the NCAA Tournament and 26-15 (.634 in regional action at home.
• Georgia Tech will host No. 2-seed Oklahoma, No. 3-seed The Citadel and No. 4-seed UIC. Should GT face off against Oklahoma, it would mark the first postseason meeting between the two programs since the 1994 College World Series championship game, won by Oklahoma, in 1994. The Jackets have never faced off against The Citadel or UIC in the NCAA Tournament.
• The regional features the regular season and conference champions from the ACC (Georgia Tech) as well as SoCon tournament champions The Citadel and Missouri Valley regular season and conference champions UIC. Oklahoma finished 11^th in the SEC and was eliminated in the first round of the SEC tournament.

True ACC Champions

• The Yellow Jackets are the first ACC program to win both the regular season and tournament titles in 13 years (North Carolina in 2013) and the 14th team in conference history to do so, including four times by GT (2005, 2000, 1987 and now 2026).
• Each of the last three ACC teams to sweep both championships have gone on to the College World Series (North Carolina, 2013 / Miami, 2008 / Clemson, 2006).
• GT won back-to-back ACC regular season titles for the 2nd time in program history and the first time since 2004/2005, becoming the first back-to-back ACC Regular Season Champion since UVA in 2010/2011 (15 years).
• Tech has won nine ACC Regular Season/Division titles this century, the 2nd most in the conference behind only Florida State (11). Georgia Tech is tied with Florida State for the most ACC Tournament titles since the turn of the century (6).
• They followed that by winning the 10^th ACC Tournament in program history and first since 2014 this past weekend, defeating NCAA Tournament teams Virginia (16-10), Miami (9-3) and North Carolina (13-6) by an average margin of 6.33 runs per game.
• Georgia Tech becomes just the second program with double-digit ACC Tournament championships, along with Clemson (11).
• This is GT’s 11th Regular Season ACC Championship and 8th outright season title.
• Head coach James Ramsey is only the second coach in ACC history to win both the regular season and tournament championships in his first season in the conference (Jack Leggett at Clemson 1994) and the first ACC coach to ever do so in his first season as a head coach.
• GT is the first program in ACC history to win back-to-back ACC regular season championships with two different coaches, securing the conference title with Danny Hall in 2025 and James Ramsey in 2026.

Award Notes

• Georgia Tech was awarded three Golden Spikes Award Semifinalists, the most in the nation and the most in program history for a single season: Drew Burress, Vahn Lackey and Jarren Advincula.
• Burress became just the third college baseball player in history to be named a semifinalist for the third year in a row and the first outfielder ever to do so., joining Anthony Rendon (Rice – 2009, 2010, and 2011) and Brendan McKay (Louisville – 2015, 2016, and 2017).
• The same three players were named semifinalists for the Dick Howser Trophy, the first time in program history that three Jackets have earned the honor and just the second time in school history with more than one.
• The Yellow Jackets were awarded six all-conference players including a program record five first-team members: Vahn Lackey, Drew Burress, Jarren Advincula, Carson Kerce and Ryan Zuckerman. Tate McKee was named 2^nd team, Tech’s first starting pitcher to be named to one of the first two all-conference teams since Brant Hurter in 2021.
• James Ramsey was named ACC Coach of the Year, becoming the first coach to ever win the award in his first season as a HC.
• Lackey was named Defensive Player of the Year, joining Joey Bart (2018) as the only Jackets to win the award.
• A program record four Yellow Jackets were honored with National Player/Pitcher of the Week awards this season: Vahn Lackey (March 17), Jarren Advincula (April 28), Drew Burress (May 12) and Tate McKee (May 19).
• Four different Yellow Jackets earned ACC Player/Pitcher of the Week awards this season: Vahn Lackey (March 16 and May 18 – the only ACC player to win the award twice this season), Carson Kerce (April 13), Drew Burress (April 27) and Tate McKee (May 18).
• Lackey and McKee became the first battery to win ACC pitcher of the Week and Player of the Week in the same week in recorded history.
• Georgia Tech is the only team in the nation with multiple Top 10 prospects according to MLB Pipeline and is tied for the most Top 150 prospects, with five: Vahn Lackey (No. 3), Drew Burress (No. 8), Jarren Advincula (No. 31), Carson Kerce (No. 133) and Alex Hernandez (No. 136).

Team Notes

• GT owns a 48-9 record, the greatest win percentage since 1920 (16-2) and a 25-5 mark in the ACC, tied with 2015 Louisville for the most ACC wins in a 30-game conference season.
• Georgia Tech outscored their ACC opponents 289-136 in the regular season, the largest run differential in ACC history (+153) and more than double the differential put up by Louisville in 2015 (+74).
• Tech has won a program-record 13 series this season, winning 13 of 14 weekend series over the course of the year, not including a 3-0 weekend at the conference tournament.
• The Jackets have won 12 games against Top 15 teams (12-4) for the first time ever and set a program record with a 17-4 record against Top 25 teams.
• GT leads the nation with 22 Quad 1 wins, no other program has more than 18. Tech’s 22-5 record against Quad 1 teams is the highest win percentage in the nation among teams with more than 15 games played against Quad 1 opponents.
• The Jackets swept four straight ACC Home series for the first time in program history, tying 2005 for the best home conference record ever recorded at GT: 14-1.
• The Jackets have swept 9 series this season, including each of their last three ACC series (vs. Wake Forest, vs. Duke and at No. 23 Boston College), also the most in school history.
• The Yellow Jackets own the best offense in the country and the best offense in modern college baseball history. In the 16 seasons of the BBCOR era, the 2026 Jackets produced the best average (.358), on-base percentage (.469), slugging percentage (.636), hits (713) and the most runs (616) of any Power Conference team over a regular season.
• The 2026 offense is currently on pace to set program records in batting average (.358 – record is .347), on-base percentage (.469 – record is .434), slugging percentage (.636 – record is .575) and runs-per-game (10.8 – record is 10.3).
• Tech leads Division I in six standard statistical categories: batting average (.358), on-base percentage (.469), slugging (.636), OPS (1.105), hits (713) and runs (616) and are Top 5 in multiple others: walks (2nd – 372), doubles (4th – 148) and home runs (4th – 125 – a new program record for a single season).
• Tech’s .358 team batting average in higher than the individual team leader of nearly ¾ of Division I teams (225 teams – 73.3% of DI), including the No. 2-seed of the Atlanta Regional, Oklahoma.
• The Jackets are the only team in the nation to be averaging double-digit runs per game this season (10.8), over a full run-per-game more than 2nd place (Miami (OH) & FDU – 9.6) and 1.5 runs per game better than the next closest NCAA Tournament team (Georgia – 9.3). A power conference team has not averaged double-digit runs per game over a full season since Arizona State in 2003 – 23 years ago.
• GT is winning games at a 6.0 average margin, 1.6 runs more than the next closest team (UCLA – 4.4). The same margin as the gap from No. 2 to No. 19.
• GT’s 616 runs are the highest total for a single season in the program’s BBCOR era (since 2011) and the 3^rd-most ever recorded in a single season at GT – most since 1994.
• GT is outscoring its opponents 616-274, that +342 margin is the highest in program history.
• The Jackets struck out 43 during their series vs. Xavier, the most combined strikeouts over a three-game series since at least the turn of the century. Tech has struck out 10.23 batters per nine innings this season, the program record for K/9 is 10.00 from back in 1998.
• Tech pitching led the ACC in both ERA (4.36) and fewest runs allowed (136) in conference play.
• Tech has scored 10 or more runs in 33 of its 57 games this season (57.9% of games).
• The Jackets have been prone to big innings, scoring five or more runs in 38 different innings this year (8.4% of all innings).
• The Jackets made history on Saturday, April 25, overcoming a 10-0 deficit to defeat Wake Forest, 14-11. It was the largest come-from-behind win of the 21st century as the Jackets outscored the Demon Deacons 14-1 from the bottom of the second inning on, fueled by a 5-for-5, 6 RBI day from Jarren Advincula and 5.0 scoreless and hitless innings from freshman Cooper Underwood.

Individual Notes

• Drew Burress is the new home run king of Georgia Tech baseball. He hit his 58^th career home run in just his third season, breaking the previous record set by Jason Varitek over four seasons from 1991-94 (57).
• He is the first Yellow Jacket in program history to record three-consecutive 70 run seasons.
• He is a staple on nearly all of the active career leaderboards for offense in Division I, coming into the postseason with the most runs scored of any active Division I player (228), the 2nd most total bases (494), the 3rd most home runs (58), the 4th highest slugging percentage (.722), the 5th most doubles (60) and the 5th most walks (156). His HR total is the most among non-seniors in DI.
• He is one extra base hit away from becoming the only Power 4 player in the BBCOR era (and the only one since at least 2002) to record three-consecutive 40 XBH seasons and just the second overall (DJ Peterson, New Mexico: 2011-13).
• Burress has landed himself on the program leaderboard in HRs (1st – 58), slugging % (2nd – .722), total bases (4th – 494), doubles (5th – 60), runs (5th – 228), RBI (12th – 185) and batting average (17th – .360).
• Carson Kerce set the new program record for doubles in a single season, collecting double No. 28 in the 53rd game of the season. He passes the previous record, held by Jay Payton since 1994.
• Kerce has hit 53 doubles over his GT career, tied for the 15th most in school history & one shy of the Top 10.
• Jarren Advincula leads the nation with 103 hits this season, becoming the 14th Yellow Jacket in program history to record 100 hits in a single season and the first since 2005 (Wes Hodges & Tyler Greene).
• He is batting .431 for the season, the highest in Power 4, the highest of any D1 player with at least 200 at-bats and the 7^th highest in program history, the best since Chandler Simpson hit .433 back in 2022.
• Ryan Zuckerman has hit 23 home runs this season, the second most in the ACC. He is the 16^th Yellow Jacket in program history to record a 20-homer season and tied with Kyle McCann (2019) for 5^th on the single season list. He is three home runs shy of the program record (26), set by Kevin Parada in 2022.
• He leads the team with 76 RBI this season, tied for the 14th most in a single season in program history and 12 shy of the BBCOR era program record set by Kevin Parada in 2022 (88).
• Zuckerman was named ACC Tournament MVP, becoming the first third baseman in program history to earn the honor.
• Vahn Lackey leads the NCAA tournament field in on-base percentage (.527) and runs scored (80). He is the eighth Yellow Jacket in program history to record an 80 run season.
• Lackey leads all Power 4 catchers in OPS (1.307) and ranks 5^th overall in Division I.
• This season, he leads the team in runs (80) and is 2^nd in RBI (75): the 8^th most in a single season 15^th most in program history respectively.
• His .780 slugging percentage is the 8^th highest in a single season by a Yellow Jacket and the third highest among players with at least 200 at-bats, behind only Burress’ freshman season (.821 in 2024) and Jason Varitek (.798 in 1993).
• The Jackets lead the nation with four players batting over .365, no other program has more than three (Georgia): Advincula (.431 – 2^nd in the nation), Lackey (.410 – 6^th in the nation), Kerce (.389) and Burress (.366).
• GT is the only program in the nation with four players with over 80 hits this season, no other program has more than two: Advincula (103- leads the nation), Burress (87), Kerce (86) and Lackey (84).
• Tech is the only program in the tournament field with multiple players players with over 20 doubles: Kerce (28 – the most in the Power 4) and Burress (22).
• GT is the only program to have seven players with an OBP of at least .464, no other program in the tournament field has more than two: Lackey (.517), Advincula (.504), Burress (.478), Schmidt (.477), Kerce (.473), Baker (.464) and Hernandez (.464)
• The Jackets have six players with at least 60 runs scored, no other program has more than three (Oklahoma St. and Pitt): Lackey (80 – the most in Power 4 and the most in the tournament field), Burress (78), Advincula (69), Zuckerman (66), Kerce (65) and Baker (60).
• Tech has five players with 40 or more walks this season, no other tournament team has more than three (Oklahoma State and USC-Upstate): Schmidt (48), Lackey (47), Burress (45), Baker (44) and Hernandez (40).
• The Jackets have four players with more than 65 RBI, no other program has more than three: Zuckerman (76), Lackey (75), Advincula (63) and Burress (56).
• Tech is the only team to have four players with a slugging percentage of at least .660, no other program has more than three: Lackey (.780), Zuckerman (.757), Kerce (.688) and Burress (.660).
• GT has five of the Top 20 players in the nation in WAR, UGA is the only other program with multiple (2): Lackey(5.25 – the best in the ACC), Zuckerman (4.87 – the best among infielders), Advincula (4.55 – the best among 2B), Burress (4.45 – the best among CF) and Kerce (4.25)
• Pitchers Jackson Blakely (8-1) and Tate McKee (8-1) become the first pair of Tech starters to deliver eight wins apiece since Connor Thomas and Amos Willingham in 2019. Carson Ballard is sitting on seven wins this season (7-0), Tech has not had three starting pitchers register eight wins in the same season since 2010.
• Blakely holds the third-lowest ERA in the ACC (2.79). He is currently on pace to be the first Tech pitcher with 50+ IP and an ERA under 3.00 since 2016 – Brandon Gold 2.48 ERA over 105.1 IP. The Jackets have won each of Blakely’s last 10 starts dating back to March 14.
• McKee is the only pitcher in Division I to have started every series/weekend opening game for the same team in each of the last two seasons. He has started 31 consecutive series/weekend openers for GT, leading the Yellow Jackets to a 25-6 record (.806 win %) in his starts.
• He has 90 strikeouts this season, the 7th most in the ACC.