Burress Ties GT Home Run Record as Tech Sweeps Duke

THE FLATS – Drew Burress tied Jason Varitek’s career home runs record with his 57^th career homer as No. 3 Georgia Tech (42-8, 22-5 ACC) collected its second straight mercy-rule victory over Duke, 14-1 (7) on Mother’s Day at Mac Nease Baseball Park at Russ Chandler Stadium. The Yellow Jackets hit two grand slams off the bats of Kent Schmidt and Parker Brosius, while Jackson Blakely shut down the Blue Devils (23-28, 9-18 ACC) over 5.1 innings in yet another dominant performance.

After Duke scored an unearned run in the first inning, the Tech bats responded with a five-spot in the bottom of the first, thanks to a two-out grand slam from Schmidt, his second grand slam of the season. The Jackets extended the lead to 7-1 with a pair of runs in the third, headlined by Carson Kerce’s program record tying 27^th double of the season. The Jackets got into double digits when Burress tied the program record with a three-run shot in the fifth inning before Brosius connected for a grand slam of his own in the sixth, leading to the 14-1 final score.

Blakely was simply dominant on the mound, only allowing five base runners over 5.1 innings and striking out seven, the most he has had in an ACC game. He would hand the ball to Caden Gaudette, who retired the only two batters he faced, before Cooper Underwood retired Duke in order, securing the run-rule victory. Tech pitching finished with eight strikeouts to just two walks, bringing the series total to 28 strikeouts and four walks over 24.0 innings.

QUICK HITS: TEAM

• The Jackets improve to 42-8, reaching 42 wins in only 50 games for the first time in program history.
• Tech needs to win two of its final four regular season games to secure the greatest regular season win percentage since going 16-2 back in 1920.
• The Yellow Jackets have swept four-straight home ACC series for the first time in program history.
• The Jackets finish with a 14-1 ACC record at home, tied with the 2005 season for the best home record in conference play in program history.
• This is the 9^th time Georgia Tech has won at least 42 regular season games in program history, joining 2010, 2006, 2002, 2000, 1997, 1993, 1990 and 1987. The program record (47 wins in 1987) is unattainable this season due to playing four fewer games.
• GT won its 22^nd ACC game of the year today, tied with the 2005 and 2011 seasons for the most in program history.
• The Jackets retain their 2.0 game lead in the conference over North Carolina. Georgia Tech’s “magic number” for clinching its second straight ACC title sits at two with the soonest Tech can clinch coming on Thursday, May 14 at Boston College, should Tech win its series opener at BC and UNC lose its series opener at NC State.
• Tech is now 30-3 at home, the best home record since 2002.
• The Jackets scored 39 runs this series, the most in an ACC series since scoring 40 at Pitt in 2022.
• Tech has scored 531 runs through their first 50 games. The most runs scored through 50 games in program history and the most scored by any Power 4 team through 50 games in the BBCOR era.
• GT’s 531 runs are the 2^nd highest total for a single season in the program’s BBCOR era (since 2011), behind only 2022 (564).
• The Jackets hit three home runs today, bringing their season total to 105 – the 6^th most in program history. Tech is 17 homers away from the program record (122 – set in 2010). Should the Jackets continue hitting homers at their current rate (2.1 per game) they would break the record in the fifth game of the postseason.
• GT is outscoring its opponents 531-240, that +291 margin is the highest through 50 games in program history.
• Tech’s offense is currently on pace to set program records in batting average (.360 – record is .347), on-base percentage (.470– record is .434), slugging percentage (.630 – record is .575) and runs-per-game (10.6 – record is 10.3).
• The Jackets have now won 24 of their last 27 games dating back to March 22.
• Tech pitching delivered eight strikeouts to only two walks, in the last four games Tech pitching has recorded 42 strikeouts while only allowing five walks.
• GT pitchers allowed only four walks over the course of the series, the fewest allowed since 2019 (four walks vs. Virginia – March 17-19).
• In contrast, Tech batters struck out just once today while drawing nine walks, bringing their series total to 12 strikeouts and 27 walks.
• The Jackets scored double-digit runs for the 29^th time this season (58% of all games).
• Tech scored five runs in the first inning, marking the 33^rd time GT has scored at least five runs in an inning (8.38% of all innings).
• GT stole four bases, for a series total of 14 (going 14-for-14 in stolen base attempts). It’s the most stolen bases without being caught in a single series since at least the turn of the century.
• 28% of Tech’s stolen bases this season occurred during this weekend’s series.

QUICK HITS: THE BATS

• Junior Drew Burress extended his hit streak to a career-best 13 games, going 2-for-4 with a home run, three RBI and two runs scored. He has now recorded multiple hits in 11 of his last 12 games dating back to April 19.
• He hit his 57^th career home run and his 13^th of the season, tying Jason Varitek (1991-94) for the most home runs in program history.
• He has hit home runs in each of his last four games and six of his last eight. It is the first time in his illustrious career that he has hit a home run in four straight games.
• Burress has been on a tear in the second half of the season (since March 28), leading the team in batting average (.472), runs (40), hits (51), triples (2 – tied with Advincula), extra-base hits (20), RBI (35), slugging (.824), on-base percentage (.536) and OPS (1.360) over the last 25 games.
• Burress has now delivered 78 hits this season, the second most on the team behind only Advincula. He is on pace for 84 hits this season, which would be his career high.
• He has produced 53 RBI, bringing his career tally to 182, the 14^th most in program history and two away from tying Brandon Hensley and J.J. Thomas for 12^th.
• This was his 27^th multi-hit game of the season, the second most on the team behind Advincula, and guaranteeing that Burress will record multiple hits in at least 50% of the regular season games this season.
• He has now scored an ACC-best 69 runs, bringing his career total to 219, the ninth most in program history and three away from cracking the Top 5.
• This was his 22^nd game with multiple runs scored, the most on the team.
• Burress owns a 1.783 OPS since graduating from Georgia Tech in three years.
• Junior Carson Kerce brought his hit streak to nine games with a 4-for-5 showing, including his program record tying 27^th double of the season, tying Jay Payton’s record that has stood since 1994.
• He leads the team with 35 extra base hits (27 doubles (the most in Power 4), two triples and six home runs).
• This was his 2^nd career four-hit game and first against an ACC opponent (also vs, Youngstown State – March 9, 2024). He has 25 multi-hit games this season, the third most on the team behind Advincula (31) and Burress (27).
• Senior Parker Brosius hit his first-career grand slam, giving Tech a 14-1 lead in the sixth inning. It was his 5^th HR of the season and his 8^th as a Yellow Jacket.
• He also added a SAC fly, giving him a career-high five RBI for the day and 24 this season.
• Junior Kent Schmidt hit his second grand slam of the season in the first inning. He would finish the day with two more walks, giving him three runs scored and four RBI for the day.
• He leads the team with 33 RBI in ACC play this season.
• His two walks gave him 41 for the season, the most on the team.
• Junior Jarren Advincula extended his hitting streak to a career best 18 games, going 1-for-3 with a singles, a walk, two stolen bases and a run scored.
• He leads Division I with 90 hits this season, averaging 1.8 hits per game, putting him on pace to be the first 100-hit player at GT since 2005 (Wes Hodges & Tyler Greene).
• His batting average now stands at .431 for the season, the highest in the ACC, Top 5 in the nation and the 7^th highest in program history.
• He has recorded multiple stolen bases in three consecutive games for the first time in his career, swiping a pair of bags in all three games of this series. He leads the team with 16 stolen bases this season.
• He remains the toughest player to strike out in the ACC, only doing so once every 13.9 at bats this season. He has only struck out in 13 of the 50 games he’s played as a Yellow Jacket.
• Junior Vahn Lackey went 2-for-3 with a run scored.
• He has scored 62 runs this year, three more than his career total over his freshman and sophomore seasons.
• Sophomore Alex Hernandez reached base in all four of his plate appearances, going 2-for-2 with two walks and two runs scored.
• This was his 16^th multi-hit game of the season, bringing his average up to .364 for the season, amazingly just the fifth highest average on the team.
• Junior Ryan Zuckerman had an interesting day at the plate, going 0-for-1 but matching his season high with three walks.
• He would also steal two bases and score two runs, marking his first-career multi-steal game.

QUICK HITS: THE ARMS

• Sophomore Jackson Blakely made his ninth consecutive weekend start, pitching 5.1 innings with one unearned run allowed and seven strikeouts with only three hits and two walks surrendered.
• His seven strikeouts were the most he has recorded in an ACC game this season and the most since striking out nine vs. Georgia State earlier this season.
• This was his fourth start with at least six strikeouts and his sixth of 10 starts with at least five.
• The Jackets have won each of Blakley’s last eight starts.
• His ERA stands at 2.84 over 50.2 innings, the lowest among all regular starting pitchers on the roster and the third lowest ERA overall on staff.
• He stands at 56 strikeouts this season, the second most on the roster, and 50.2 innings pitched, also the second most, both behind Friday night starter Tate McKee.
• Blakely would get credit for the win, bringing his record to 6-1 for the season and joining Carson Ballard (6-0) for the second most wins on the staff, behind McKee (7).
• He is currently on pace to be the first Tech pitcher with an ERA under 3.00 since 2016 – Brandon Gold 2.48 ERA over 105.1 IP.
• R-junior Caden Gaudette made his team-leading 21^st appearance of the season in the sixth inning, getting a pair of outs on six pitches to keep the Jackets comfortably ahead.
• He lowers his ERA to a career-best 4.28 this season over 27.1 innings pitched. He is one appearance away from matching his previous career total from his past two seasons and one strikeout away from the same.
• Freshman Cooper Underwood slammed the door shut in the 7^th inning, sitting Duke down in order with a strikeout and just 14 pitches.
• This was his fourth appearance out of the bullpen this season and his 10^th He owns a 1.17 ERA over 7.2 innings out of the bullpen this year, allowing only three hits with 10 strikeouts.

Up Next

The Jackets close out the regular season home slate on Tuesday when they welcome in-state rival Mercer (39-13, 12-6 SOCON). The game will be streamed on ACCNX and tickets are still available HERE

Full Steam Ahead

Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ 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 O’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 visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.

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