THE FLATS – A record four position players from the Georgia Tech baseball team have been named Perfect Game Preseason All-Americans, the publication announced today. Junior center fielder Drew Burress (Houston County, Ga./Houston County HS) and junior catcher Vahn Lackey (Suwanee, Ga./Collins Hill HS) were both tabbed as 1st team All-America while junior infielder Jarren Advincula (Santa Clara, Calif./Cal/ Archbishop Mitty HS) earned 2nd team honors and sophomore utility Alex Hernandez (Cumming, Ga./Forsyth Central HS) was named to the 3rd team.
This marks the first time in program history that four position players have been named preseason All-America, further showing why national scouts and D1 Baseball’s Aaron Fitt are referring to the 2026 Georgia Tech lineup as “the best position player group…and it’s not even close.” The Yellow Jackets are the only team in the nation to boast four All-Americans, the only program with multiple 1st Team All-Americans (Burress & Lackey) and one of five programs with more than two on any of the teams – along with reigning national champions LSU, TCU, Texas and North Carolina. Tech is one of five programs from the ACC with multiple All-Americans along with North Carolina (three), Florida State (two), Virginia (two) and Louisville (two).
Burress enters his third season on The Flats with the hopes of proving himself to be one of the greatest to ever wear the White & Gold. He is coming off a sophomore campaign in which he was named 1st Team All-American by five different publications, joining Kevin Parada (2022), Joey Bart (2018), and Mark Teixeira (2000) as the only to do so in program history. He was the only player from a Power 4 conference with at least 60 RBI (62), 20 doubles (23), 50 walks (53), 15 HR (19) and 70 runs (77) and led the ACC in extra base hits (43), doubles (23), finishing 2nd in the conference in home runs (19) and runs scored (77). He became the fastest Yellow Jacket in program history to reach 30 and 40 career homeruns and his 23 doubles were the most by a GT player in the BBCOR era (since 2011). The Houston County man enters his junior year as the only Division I player with a career slugging percentage over .750 (.756), also the best in program history with a minimum of 300 ABs (446), nearly half a point above second place, College Baseball Hall of Famer, Mark Teixeira (.712). His 44 career home runs are currently 10th-most in program history and just 13 shy of the program record, set by Jason Varitek (57) from 1991-94. This is Burress’ second straight season earning a preseason All-American nod.
Lackey enjoyed a breakout 2025 season, earning himself the moniker of best catcher in college leading into 2026. He slashed .347 avg./.421 OBP/.500 Slug. with a team-high 77 base hits including 14 doubles, one triple and six home runs for 42 RBI and 45 runs scored last season while also leading all Division I catchers with 18 stolen bases on 21 attempts. He delivered multiple hits in 45% of his games played (27-of-60) and ranked third among DI catchers in both batting average (.347) and hits (77). He worked with the Georgia Tech pitching staff to hold opponents to 8.84 hits-per-nine innings, the lowest mark in over a decade while helping lower the team ERA by 1.57 runs compared to 2024, the largest decrease of any Power 4 team to make a Regional last season. Over the summer, he was named one of two catchers for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team, becoming the fifth Tech catcher to represent on the international stage, joining GT legends Kevin Parada, Matt Wieters, Mike Nickeas and Jason Varitek. This is the first preseason All-America honor for Lackey who was named a semifinalist for the Buster Posey Award, given to the best collegiate catcher, last season.
Advincula joined the Yellow Jackets in the offseason after an All-ACC season at California in which he slashed .342 avg./.410 OBP/.506 Slug. His 81 hits ranked second among all second basemen in the nation and he led the Golden Bears in hits (81), doubles (17), at bats (237), stolen bases (13), multiple-hit games (26), three-hit games (11) and total bases (120). Known as one of the toughest outs in the conference last season, Advincula joins a potent Tech lineup as the second-best 2nd baseman in the nation according to Perfect Game. This is his first-career preseason All-American honor.
Hernandez enters his sophomore campaign after being named ACC Freshman of the Year, 1st-Team Freshman All-America by four publications and All-ACC 1st Team in 2025. He set the Georgia Tech record for most RBI by a freshman, finishing with 69, breaking the 20-year-old record set by Matt Wieters. He led all Power 4 freshmen with those 69 RBI and became the 7th Yellow Jacket to be named ACC Freshman of the Year. He was the second of back-to-back ACC Freshman of the Year from Tech (also Burress) marking just the second time GT has achieved that and first since Nomar Garciaparra (1992), and Jason Varitek (1991). Hernandez started 48 games in the cleanup spot and slashed .335 avg./.415 OBP/.609 Slug. He led the Jackets in at bats (230), hits (77 – tied with Vahn Lackey) and RBI (69) finishing with 47 runs scored, 11 doubles, two triples and 16 home runs. Listed as a second baseman in the Perfect Game All-Americans list, Hernandez started in six different spots last year: 2nd Base (27), Right Field (14), 1st Base (7), Left Field (7), DH (4) and pitcher (1) becoming the only underclassman in Division I with 50+ RBI (69) and multiple saves (2). This is his first-career preseason All-America nod.
2026 will be the first season for new Head Coach James Ramsey. Since Ramsey took over the offense in 2019, Georgia Tech leads the ACC in batting average (.308), OPS (.918), OBP (.408), hits (3,961), doubles (796) and SAC Flies (208) and is second in runs (2,937), triples (84), home runs (547), RBI (2,709) and slugging (.510) with more to come in 2026.
First pitch for the highly anticipated 2026 season is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 13 at 4 p.m. when the Yellow Jackets host Bowling Green for a three-game series at Mac Nease Baseball Park at Russ Chandler Stadium.
2026 Season Tickets
Season tickets for Georgia Tech’s 2026 regular season home schedule, including five ACC home series and a collection of non-conference games, are on sale now. Visit ramblinwreck.com/tickets to purchase. For complete information on 2026 baseball tickets, including premium membership options, please visit the official Georgia Tech Baseball Tickets page.
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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