THE FLATS – Sophomore center fielder Drew Burress has been included on the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List it was announced today. Burress, the reigning National Freshman of the Year, has been enjoying an excellent “sophomore encore” in 2025, helping lead No. 22 Georgia Tech (23-6, 8-4 ACC) to its best start in 14 seasons.
Burress is currently batting .363 with a 1.256 OPS (3rd-best among Power 4 undergraduates). He leads all of Power 4 and is 2nd overall with 16 doubles, spearheading a GT offense that leads Division I in doubles (89), on track to set the program record for doubles in a season. He is slugging .804 over his career, the highest in DI by a margin of .072.
He began his season with a walk-off grand slam in the first weekend of the season, putting an exclamation point on a 7-run ninth inning comeback in the second game of the season, over Old Dominion. It was his first walk off hit as a Yellow Jacket and the first of his 10 home runs so far in 2025.
He became the fastest Jacket in program history to reach 30 career home runs – doing so in just 73 games, a full 20 games faster than the previous record holder, 1st round draft pick, Kevin Parada. He currently sits at 35 career home runs, tied with Eric McQueen (1996-99) and Matt Wieters (2005-07) for the 24th most home runs in Georgia Tech baseball history. His next homer will put him in a seven-way tie for 18th on the program leaderboard, tying GT legends Darren Bragg (1988-91) Jay Payton (1992-94) and Mark Teixeira (1999-01).
The Golden Spikes preseason list includes 55 players across high school and college baseball. The Golden Spikes Advisory Board will maintain the award’s watch list on a rolling basis, allowing athletes to play themselves into consideration for the award based on in-season performance.
About Golden Spikes Award
Since 1978, USA Baseball has honored the top amateur baseball player in the country with the Golden Spikes Award. The Award, which is presented on ESPN annually, goes to the amateur baseball player who exhibits exceptional athletic ability and exemplary sportsmanship. The 2024 Golden Spikes Award winner was Charlie Condon from the University of Georgia. Winners of this prestigious award from the past 20 years include Major League Baseball All-Stars such as Adley Rutschman (’19), Andrew Benintendi (’15), Kris Bryant (’13), Mike Zunino (’12), Trevor Bauer (‘11), Bryce Harper (’10), Stephen Strasburg (‘09), Buster Posey (’08), David Price (’07), Tim Lincecum (’06), Alex Gordon (’05), and Jered Weaver (’04). Fans can follow the Golden Spikes Award on Instagram and Twitter @USAGoldenSpikes.
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.
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.
