May 9, 2026

Jackets Mercy-Rule Duke in Sold Out Senior Day

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THE FLATS – No. 3 Georgia Tech (41-8, 21-5 ACC) celebrated senior day in style, overpowering Duke (23-27, 9-17 ACC) in seven innings, 15-2 (7). The Yellow Jackets enjoyed a great start from Carson Ballard, one day after he graduated with a degree in biomedical engineering, while the offense went off for three home runs and nine runs scored in the fourth inning, cruising to a 13-run victory and their 12^th series win, tied for the most in program history.

Tech’s offense continued its record-breaking pace, hitting three home runs in the fourth inning, a grand slam from Ryan Zuckerman, a three-run shot from Drew Burress and a two-run homer off the bat of Alex Hernandez, turning a 4-1 ballgame into a 13-1 blowout. The Jackets would add two more runs in the fifth after the game got out of hand, eventually winning by 13 and continuing the greatest season in program history.

QUICK HITS: TEAM

The Jackets improve to 41-8, reaching 41 wins in only 49 games for the first time in program history.
Tech needs to win three of its final five regular season games to secure the greatest regular season win percentage since going 16-2 back in 1920.
The Jackets have secured 12 series victories, tied with 2011 for the most ever recorded in a single season.
This is the 11^th time Georgia Tech has won at least 41 regular season games in program history, joining 2010, 2006, 2002, 2000, 1997, 1994, 1993, 1992, 1990 and 1987.
GT won its 21^st ACC game of the year today, tied for the 2^nd-most ACC wins in program history and just one behind the record, set in 2005 and again in 2011.
The Jackets are the fastest to 21 ACC wins in program history as well, doing so one game fewer than the previous record (21-6) back in 2005.
The Jackets retain their 2.0 game lead in the conference over North Carolina. The soonest that GT can clinch a regular season title would be Thursday, May 14, in the series opener at Boston College, should UNC lose one of its next two ACC games and Tech win both.
Tech is now 29-3 at home, the best home record since 2002.
James Ramsey owns the best record by any first-year GT head coach through 48 games (41-8), three games better than the previous record holder, Danny Hall (38-11 in 1994).
Tech has scored 517 runs through their first 49 games. The most runs scored through 49 games in program history and the most scored by any Power 4 team through 49 games in the BBCOR era.
GT’s 517 runs are already the 2^nd highest total for a single season in the program’s BBCOR era (since 2011), behind only 2022 (564).
The Jackets hit three home runs today, all in the nine-run fourth inning, bringing their season total to 102 – the 7^th time in program history a GT team has hit triple digit homers. Tech is 20 homers away from the program record (122 – set in 2010). Should the Jackets continue hitting homers at their current rate (2.08 per game) they would tie the record in the fifth game of the postseason.
GT is outscoring its opponents 517-239, that +278 margin is the highest through 49 games in program history.
Tech’s offense is currently on pace to set program records in batting average (.358 – record is .347), on-base percentage (.467 – record is .434), slugging percentage (.626 – record is .575) and runs-per-game (10.6 – record is 10.3).
The Jackets have now won 23 of their last 26 games dating back to March 22.
Tech pitching delivered seven strikeouts to only one walk, in the last three games Tech pitching has recorded 34 strikeouts to only three walks.
The Jackets scored double-digit runs for the 28^th time this season (57.1% of all games).
Tech improves to 9-0 when playing in front of a sold-out crowd, at home, this season, winning by a combined score of 100-36.
GT stole six bases tonight, a new season high, it was the most stolen bases accomplished against an ACC opponent since swiping six vs. Duke back in 2004 (22 years ago).

QUICK HITS: THE BATS

Junior Drew Burress extended his hit streak to a career-best 12 games, going 2-for-3 with a home run, three RBI and three runs scored. He has now recorded multiple hits in 10 of his last 11 games dating back to April 19 and multiple extra-base hits in four of his last eight.
Burress has been on a tear in the second half of the season (since March 28), leading the team in batting average (.471), runs (38), hits (49), triples (2 – tied with Advincula), extra-base hits (19), slugging (.808), on-base percentage (.533) and OPS (1.341) over the last 24 games.
He hit his 56^th career home run and his 12^th of the season, tying J.J. Thomas (1995-97) for the 2^nd most in program history and standing just one away from the program record (57) held by Jason Varitek (1991-94).
He has hit home runs in each of his last three games and five of his last seven. It is the first time in his illustrious career that he has hit a home run in three straight games.
Burress has now delivered 76 hits this season, the second most on the team behind only Advincula. He is on pace for 83 hits this season, which would match his career high, set during his All-American freshman season.
He has produced 50 RBI, bringing his career tally to 179, tied with Matt Skole (2009-11) for the 16^th most in program history. He is two away from tying Derek Dietrich and Scott Byers for 14^th.
This was his 26^th multi-hit game of the season, the second most on the team behind Advincula.
He has now scored an ACC-best 67 runs this season, bringing his career total to 217, the ninth most in program history and five away from cracking the Top 5.
This was his 10^th game of the season with three or more runs scored and his 21^st game with multiple runs scored, the most on the team.
Burress owns a 1.750 OPS since graduating from Georgia Tech in three years.
Junior Jarren Advincula extended his hitting streak to a career best 17 games, going 2-for-2 with two singles, two walks, two stolen bases and a career high four run scored.
He leads Division I with 89 hits this season, averaging 1.82 hits per game, putting him on pace to be the first 100-hit player at GT since 2005 (Wes Hodges & Tyler Greene).
He brings his batting average to .432 for the season, the highest in the ACC, Top 5 in the nation and the 7^th highest in program history.
This was his team-leading 31^st multi-hit game of the season.
He scored four runs for the first time in his career, becoming the fourth Yellow Jacket to record a four-run game this season, along with Burress (twice), Vahn Lackey and Ryan Zuckerman (twice).
He has recorded multiple stolen bases in consecutive games for the first time in his career, swiping a pair of bags in both games of this series.
He remains the toughest player to strike out in the ACC, only doing so once every 13.7 at bats this season. He has only struck out in 13 of the 49 games he’s played as a Yellow Jacket.
Junior Ryan Zuckerman connected for his 20^th home run of the season, a grand slam in the fourth inning – his first as a Yellow Jacket. He is the 16^th Yellow Jacket in program history to record a 20 home run season, in a seven-way tie for 11^th on the single season list. He is now six home runs shy of the program record (26), set by Kevin Parada in 2022.
Zuckerman matched his career high with five RBI today, bringing his season total to a team-high 65.
He has hit 34 extra-base hits this season, tied with Carson Kerce for the most on the team (20 HRs, 13 doubles, one triple).
Junior Carson Kerce brought his hit streak to eight games with a 1-for-4 game, including his 26^th double of the season, tying Nomar Garciaparra for the 2^nd most ever recorded by a Yellow Jacket. He is one double away from tying Jay Payton for the program record (27), set back in 1994.
He is tied with Zuckerman for the team lead with 34 extra base hits (26 doubles (the most in Power 4), two triples and six home runs).
Sophomore Alex Hernandez launched the Jackets third home run of the fourth inning, connecting for his eighth of the season. This was his second game back from a nagging injury that saw him miss five games.
It was his 24^th career home run, a two-run shot, resulting in his 10^th multi-RBI game of the season.
Junior Vahn Lackey went 2-for-2 with two RBI, two runs, two stolen bases and a hit-by-pitch. He is up to 57 RBI this season, matching his previous career total from his first two seasons (57).
Lackey has scored 61 runs this year, two more than his career total over his freshman and sophomore seasons. He joins Burress in the 60-run club this year.
He brings his batting average back up to .375 for the season with a .693 slug and a .496 OBP – all the second highest marks on the team.

QUICK HITS: THE ARMS

R-junior Carson Ballard made his fourth start of the season, and second consecutive Saturday start, pitching a season high 5.0 innings with only one earned run and four strikeouts.
Ballard has now recorded 35 strikeouts this season, his second straight season with at least 30 Ks.
He lowers his ERA to 3.38 this season over 32.0 innings, only Sunday starter Jackson Blakely (3.18) has a lower ERA with more innings pitched.
He would get the win, improving his record to 6-0 this season, the second-most wins on the team behind only Tate McKee (seven). Ballard now owns twice as many wins this season as he did in his previous two combined.
R-sophomore Jake Lankie made his 15^th appearance of the season out of the bullpen for the 6^th inning, avoiding some traffic on the base paths to deliver a scoreless frame.
It was his 11^th outing without an earned run this season as he lowers his ERA to 5.59 over 19.1 innings with 24 strikeouts.
Senior Kayden Campbell pitched the seventh inning, allowing one run on a solo homer before polishing off the run-rule win with out No. 21.
It was his 13^th outing of the season, bringing his total innings pitched up to 10.1 with 12 strikeouts, including two tonight.

Up Next

The Jackets go for their fourth-straight ACC home sweep tomorrow at 1 pm against Duke. The game will be streamed on ACCNX and tickets are still available HERE

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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