THE FLATS – Freshman Alex Hernandez (Cumming, Ga./Forsyth Central HS) was named a 1st Team Freshman All-American the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) announced today. Hernandez set the Georgia Tech freshman record for RBI in a single season, leading all Power 4 first years with 69 RBI.
Hernandez becomes the 7th Freshman All-American over the last six seasons, joining Drew Burress (2024), Kristian Campbell (2023), Kevin Parada (2021), Drew Compton (2020), Stephen Reid (2020) and Dalton Smith (2020). He is the 42nd Freshman All-American in program history.
He played in 59 games this season, only missing one due to injury. He reached base in each of his first 17 games, launching a grand slam for his first-career homerun, one of two grand slams he’d hit on the year. Hernandez was named 1st team as the Utility player since he started in six different spots this year: 2nd Base (27), Right Field (14), 1st Base (7), Left Field (7), DH (4) and pitcher (1).
The Cumming, Ga. native became a mainstay in the Georgia Tech lineup, starting 48 games in the cleanup spot and delivering a team-high 69 RBI while slashing .335 avg. / .415 OBP / .609 slug. He led the Jackets in at bats (230), hits (77 – tied with Vahn Lackey) and RBI (69) on his way to becoming the 7th ACC Freshman of the Year in program history. He finished with 47 runs scored, 11 doubles, two triples and 16 home runs, serving as the primary RBI man for a lineup that proved to be one of the most potent in the country.
With Hernandez in the lineup, Tech delivered the 4th highest OPS among Power 4 teams (.956). The Jacket offense led the nation in doubles (149) and sacrifice flies (40) and posted the best batting average in the ACC (.315).
Hernandez is the only underclassmen in Division I with 50+ RBI (69) and multiple saves (2) and is the first player in college baseball to record at least 55 RBI and multiple saves in his freshman season since 2022, when 2024 1st Round pick Braden Montgomery did so at Stanford.
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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