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Freshmen Fuel Sixth Straight Victory

MACON, Ga.– Georgia Tech baseball (35-14, 15-9 ACC) capped off a season sweep over Mercer (31-20) on Wednesday night at OrthoGeorgia Park in Macon, Ga. Freshmen were the story of the night as all of the Yellow Jackets’ RBI and innings pitched came from freshmen, including a gem of an outing from starting pitcher Connor Chicoli who went 7.2 innings, the longest outing of any Tech pitcher this year. Will Baker and Drew Rogers each hit home runs as Tech extended its winning streak to six games headed into Danny Hall weekend on The Flats.

QUICK HITS: THE TEAM

  • Tech is now 35-14, tied with 2019 for the best start to a season in 14 years (since 2011).
  • The Jackets lead the all-time series with Mercer 120-58 and have swept the season series for the second year in a row.
  • GT hit two home runs today, marking the third straight game with multiple home runs – the longest streak of the season.
  • The Jackets connected for one double today, a ninth inning hustle double off the bat of Caleb That brought the season total to 128, the most in Division I.
  • Georgia Tech is averaging 2.61 doubles per game this season (128 in 49 games) – the program record for doubles/game is 2.51, set in 1987.
  • The Georgia Tech bullpen allowed one earned run over 1.1 innings, bringing their season ERA to 3.93, the lowest in 11 seasons (since 2014).
  • The Jackets end the regular season with a 20-5 record in non-conference games (.800 win %) – the best non-conference winning percentage since 2010 (26-6 / 81.25%)
  • This six-game win streak matches the longest winning streak of the season, also from Feb. 26-March 7.
  • Tech improves to 5-4 in one run games this season.

QUICK HITS: THE BATS

  • Freshman Will Baker hit another home run, connecting for a two-run shot in the second inning. It was his 6th homer of the year, his third in the past six games and second in as many games, marking the first time he has hit home runs in consecutive games.
  • The Australian posted his sixth multi-RBI game of the season. It was the first time he has driven in multiple runs in consecutive games as a Yellow Jacket.
  • Baker leads the team with three home runs over the current six-game winning streak, tied with Drew Burress.

  • Freshman Drew Rogers extended his on-base streak to a career-best seven games with a no-doubt solo home run in the fifth inning.
  • It was his fourth long ball of the season and first since Feb. 28, extending his hitting streak to three games, one shy of his career long.

  • Tech freshmen have accounted for 30 HRs this season – led by 11 from Hernandez. GT had 32 homers from freshmen last year, headlined by a freshman record 25 off the bat of Burress.
  • Sophomore Carson Kerce came around to score twice, giving him 43 runs for the year and marking his 12th multi-run game of the year.
  • Burress reached base for the 10th game in a row and 48th time out of 49 games this year after drawing a walk.
  • Freshman Caleb Daniel extended his on-base streak to 15 games, the longest active streak on the team. He went 2-for-4 with a double, extending his hitting streak to a career-best eight games.
  • He was thrown out trying to score from third on a ground ball, bringing his runs scored streak to a halt at seven games. It was the second time he has scored runs in seven straight games this season after also doing so back in March.
  • Kyle Lodise made his mark on the defensive end, playing a part in both of GT’s double plays and flashing the leather for each of the final two outs.

 

QUICK HITS: THE ARMS

  • Freshman Connor Chicoli, simply put, made the best start by any Yellow Jacket this season. He pitched 7.2 innings, the longest of any Tech pitcher this season, struck out a career-high four batters and earned his first-career quality start and win.
  • Chicoli was remarkably efficient, facing the minimum through three innings, thanks to pair of double play balls turned by the Tech defense. By the end of his outing, he had thrown just 92 pitches to get his 23 outs, doing all of this without allowing a free base in any form.
  • It was his first win of the year in his fourth start, and first start since March 11, improving his record to 1-0 while lowering his ERA to 4.05 for the season.

 

  • R-freshman Jackson Blakely got the Jackets out of the eighth with the lead in hand, he would get the first out of the ninth before exiting after allowing a solo homer, pitching 0.2 innings when all was said and done.
  • Freshman Alex Hernandez became the first underclassmen pitcher in Division I to record a second save while also hitting for double-digit home runs. He would record the final two outs of the game with no room to spare.
  • It was his second save of the season and his second appearance in the last three games.
  • He played the first 8.1 innings in right field, where he recorded one putout while going 1-for-4 at the dish, extending his hitting streak to six games in the process.

UP NEXT­­
The Jackets will hope to extend the winning streak into the weekend when they host No. 20 Louisville (33-15, 13-11 ACC) for a three-game set at Mac Nease Baseball Park. It’s Danny Hall weekend as Georgia Tech honors legendary baseball coach Danny Hall in his last home weekend in the regular season. Celebrations are planned throughout the weekend featuring appearances from alumni and much more. Tickets are available at ramblinwreck.com/tickets

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

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