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Balanced Attack Leads to Lopsided Win

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Box Score Season Stats

THE FLATS โ€“ Eight of the nine starters either scored or drove in a run as Georgia Tech baseball (31-14, 15-9 ACC) muscled past Western Carolina (23-22) by a score of 13-5 on Friday night inside Mac Nease Baseball Park at Russ Chandler Stadium. The Yellow Jackets scored in every inning except for the first to pull away from WCU, showcasing strong situational hitting to collect the eight-run victory despite only hitting four extra base hits.

QUICK HITS: THE TEAM

  • Tech is now 31-14, tied with 2019 for the best start to a season in 14 years (since 2011).
  • The Tech offense delivered 13 runs, its 20th double-digit scoring output of the season, Tech is 19-1 when scoring 10 or more in a game.
  • The Jackets connected for two doubles today, bringing the season total to 119, the most among Power 4 schools.
  • Georgia Tech is averaging 2.64 doubles per game this season (119 in 45 games) โ€“ the program record for doubles/game is 2.51, set in 1987.
  • Vahn Lackey recorded one of his two RBI off a SAC fly. Georgia Tech leads the nation with 36 SAC flies this season, 10 behind the program record (46) set back in 2000, and the most in a season since 2019 (41).
  • The pitching staff struck out 9 batters today, marking the 33rd time this season that the pitchers have struck out at least one-per-inning pitched (73.3 percent).
  • The Jackets scored five runs in the bottom of the third, the 17th inning of at least five runs this season โ€“ Tech is 15-1 when scoring five or more in an inning this season.

QUICK HITS: THE BATS

  • Senior John Giesler put on a show in limited action, going 2-for-2 with a double and three RBI after three innings, he would leave the game to start the fourth with an illness.
  • It was his 3rd multi-RBI game of the season, bringing his season total to 14.

 

  • Sophomore Kent Schmidt extended his RBI streak to nine consecutive games with a 2-for-5 showing, driving in two RBI.
  • He has driven in a run in all four games since returning from injury, despite not playing at 100 percent capacity.

  • Freshman Alex Hernandez can claim the bragging rights in the three-way battle for team RBI leader after posting his 49th of the season tonight. He leads the team with Drew Burress (48) and Kyle Lodise (47) hot on his tail.
  • Hernandez now leads all Power 4 freshman in RBI, breaking a tie with Floridaโ€™s Brendan Lawson.
  • Freshman Caleb Daniel extended his on-base streak to 11 games, the longest active streak on the team. He would go 3-for-5 with three singles and three runs scored out of the seven hole.
  • It was his fourth 3+ hit game of the campaign, tied for the third-most on the team behind Lodise (6) and Burress (five).
  • This was his sixth game with at least three runs scored this season, bringing his season total to 42, the fifth-most among Power 4 freshmen.
  • Sophomore Carson Kerce became the first Yellow Jacket to go yard in May, launching a two-run blast to the opposite field in the eighth inning for two more insurance runs.
  • It was his third HR of the season and second in the last four games as he surpasses his home run total from last season.

  • Sophomore Vahn Lackey delivered his team-leading 21st multi-hit game of the season, going 2-for-4 with his first-career triple and two RBI.
  • Lackey has statistically been the best bat in the lineup since the start of April, leading the team in average (.369), hits (24), doubles (6), RBI (15), slugging percentage (.631), on-base percentage (.434) and stolen bases (4) since the start of last month while also limiting runners to just a 50 percent stolen base percentage against him (8-for-16).
  • Junior Kyle Lodise drew a season-high three walks tonight, coming around to score each time for his 7th three-run game of the year. He leads the team with 1.4 runs-per-game this season, the 2nd highest mark among Power 4 players.
  • Sophomore Drew Burress reached base for the sixth game in a row and 44th time out of 45 games this season, going 1-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored.
  • He leads the team with 59 runs scored this season, putting him one run shy of becoming the first Yellow Jacket to score 60+ runs in back-to-back seasons since Jeff Rowland and Derek Dietrich in 2009 & 2010. There has not been a Jacket score 70+ in consecutive seasons since Richard Lewis in 2000 and 2001.
  • Freshman Will Baker came through with another RBI, he is in a three-way tie for the 2nd most RBI on the team since the start of April, tied with Kerce and Burress at 14, one behind Lackey in the lead.

QUICK HITS: THE ARMS

  • Sophomore Tate McKee made his 12th straight Friday night start, working around some trouble but still pitching 5.0 innings and securing four strikeouts.
  • He set a new career high for strikeouts in a season, now with a team-high 65.
  • McKee got back into the win column, bringing his record to 6-2, the best among Tech starters this season. Those six wins are tied for the most by a Tech starter since 2019 when Amos Willingham (eight) and Connor Thomas (nine) both won more โ€“ both pitchers have since made their MLB debuts.
  • Junior Caden Spivey was back in his bag, coming out of the bullpen with 2.0 scoreless innings while allowing only one hit and striking out two.
  • He has held opponents off the board in six of his seven relief appearances this season with an ERA of 1.26 out of the pen.

  • R-Freshman Jackson Blakely allowed his first collegiate run in the eighth inning while also recording his first-collegiate strikeout. He has pitched 3.0 innings since recovering from Tommy John surgery that forced him to miss all of the 2024 season and the first part of 2025.
  • Freshman Connor Shouse made his second appearance on the bump this season, collecting the final three outs after starting the first eight innings in right field. He would record a pair of strikeouts, giving him four over 3.0 innings of work.

UP NEXTยญยญ
The Jackets continue the series against Western Carolina (23-22) tomorrow, May 3, at 3 p.m. Tech is expected to start junior RHP Brady Jones (4-2 / 4.70 ERA) against WCUโ€™s RHP Dusty Revis (4-4 / 4.50 ERA). Tickets are available at ramblinwreck.com/tickets

Full Steam Ahead

Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athleticsโ€™ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and Oโ€™Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visitย atfund.org/FullSteamAheadย for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.

For the latest information on the Georgia Tech baseball team, follow us on Twitter (@GTBaseball), Facebook, Instagram (@gt_baseball) or visit us at www.ramblinwreck.com.

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