Hernandez, McKee Lift Jackets to NCAA Regional-Opening Win

OXFORD, Miss. – Alex Hernandez (Cumming, Ga./Forsyth Central H.S.) hit two three-run home runs and Tate McKee (Kennasaw, Ga./Mount Paran Christian School) pitched seven innings of one-run ball to lift Georgia Tech to a 9-2 win over Western Kentucky in the opening game of the NCAA Baseball Championship Oxford Regional on Friday afternoon at Ole Miss’s Swayze Field.

Hernandez’ first three-run homer of the day to straightaway center field gave Tech a 3-0 lead in the first inning. His second three-run bomb, this time high off the batter’s eye in straightaway center, wrapped the scoring for the Yellow Jackets with two outs in the bottom of the eighth. The ACC Freshman of the Year added a pair of singles to finish 4-for-5 with six RBI, giving him 67 RBI on the season. His 67 RBI are just one shy of the Georgia Tech freshman record of 68, set by Matt Wieters in 2005 and ties the mark Drew Burress finished with in his National Freshman of the Year season last year.

In between Hernandez’s long balls, McKee scattered seven hits over his seven innings of one-run work. He finished his outstanding outing by getting WKU leadoff man and .364 hitter Carlos Vasquez to ground out, stranding a pair of runners.

With the win, Georgia Tech (41-17) advances in the winners’ bracket of the Oxford Regional, where it will face the winner of Friday night’s Ole Miss-Murray State game on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET at Swayze Field. Western Kentucky (46-13) will meet the loser of Friday’s Ole Miss-Murray State contest in an elimination game on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET.

QUICK HITS: THE TEAM

• The Jackets have won their opening game of regional play for the 19^th time in program history (19-17) and the 14^th time under Head Coach Danny Hall (14-11).
• GT has reached the Regional Final in 12 of the past 13 years in which they won the opening game in the Danny Hall era (since 1994).
• This is the first time Tech has won the opening game of a regional since 2021.
• GT improves to 3-0 against C-USA opponents this year after defeating Kennesaw State twice during the regular season.
• Tech is now 41-17, tied for the best record in 15 seasons (tied with 2019 for the best since 2010)
• Tech pitching struck out nine batters today – the most in an NCAA Tournament game since 2022 (10 vs. Alabama State).
• The Jacket arms have accounted for at least one strikeout per inning pitched in 38 of 58 games this season (65.5 %)
• Tech hit one double today off the bat of Carson Kerce – the team’s 142^nd double of the season – the most in the ACC and the most of any team in the NCAA Tournament field.
• The Jackets hit their Division I leading 40^th SAC fly of the season off the bat of Drew Rogers.

QUICK HITS: THE BATS

• Freshman Alex Hernandez delivered an historic performance – going 4-for-5 with two HR and 6 RBI.
• He becomes the first Yellow Jacket to record multiple home runs in an NCAA Tournament game since Drew Compton hit two against Indiana State in 2021 (June 6, 2021).
• He is the first Yellow Jacket to record six RBI in an NCAA Tournament game since JJ Thomas against Austin Peay in 1996 (May 24, 1996).
• Hernandez is now 1 RBI away from tying the Georgia Tech freshman RBI record, set by Matt Wieters in 2005.
• It was his second-career multi-HR game after hitting two for six RBI against Pitt earlier this season (March 16).
• Tech freshmen have accounted for 38 HRs this season – led by 16 from Alex Hernandez – six more than last year’s total (32) which included a freshman record 25 off the bat of Burress.
• Sophomore Kent Schmidt extended his hitting streak to a team-high 12 games with a 2-for-3 game, bringing his season batting average up to .405.
• He has recorded multiple hits in eight straight games, the longest streak of his career and the longest of any Yellow Jacket this season.
• Schmidt now has 23 multi-hit games in just 37 appearances with multiple ABs (62.2 percent of opportunities).
• The last Tech batter to hit .400 or better with a minimum of 100 ABs was current Tampa Bay Ray Chandler Simpson (.433 in 2022).
• Sophomore Carson Kerce recorded his 17^th multi-hit game of the season, going 2-for-4 with a double, a bunt single and an RBI.
• He has hit 19 doubles this season, the third-most on the team. Tech is the only Power 4 team to have three players with 19 or more doubles: Drew Burress (23), Kyle Lodise (20) and Kerce (19).
• Freshman Drew Rogers recorded his 18^th RBI of the season with a SAC fly in the second inning. He has recorded an RBI in three straight games, all postseason games, one game shy of the longest streak of his season (four straight from Feb. 18-Feb. 28).

QUICK HITS: THE ARMS

• Sophomore Tate McKee delivered a masterful performance in his first NCAA Tournament start, matching his career high with 7.0 innings pitched and setting a new career high with 113 pitches.
• This was his 16^th start of the season and his fourth quality start of the season – 5^th of his career.
• He has recorded back-to-back quality starts for the first time in his career after pitching 6.1 innings in GT’s ACC Quarterfinal win over Cal last week.
• McKee’s final line was 7.0 IP, 7 H , 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 Ks – improving his record to 8-3 this season.
• He now owns the second-most wins on the team, behind Mason Patel (11), and leads the team in strikeouts (83).
• His 83 Ks are the most by a Tech pitcher since Zach Maxwell recorded 84 in 2022.
• McKee lowers his season ERA back below 5.00 (4.84) after sitting below 5.00 for the entire season up until May 9^th.
• R-Sophomore Carson Ballard made his NCAA Tournament debut, entering the game in the eighth inning to record the final six outs.
• He recorded three strikeouts to bring his season total to 35, nine more than last season despite pitching 2.1 fewer innings.

UP NEXT­­
The Jackets will take on the winner of No. 1 seeded Ole Miss and No. 4 seeded Murray State in the winner’s bracket of the Oxford Regional, tomorrow at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN+

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 Yellow Jackets, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and at www.ramblinwreck.com.