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Jackets Run-Rule No. 11 Auburn in Front of Sold-Out Crowd

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THE FLATS โ€“ The largest midweek crowd in program history (4,033) witnessed a dominant showing as No. 3 Georgia Tech mercy-ruled No. 11 Auburn by a final score of 13-3 (8) on Tuesday night inside Mac Nease Baseball Park at Russ Chandler Stadium. After falling behind, 3-0, in the second inning, the Yellow Jackets (23-5, 9-3 ACC) scored 13 unanswered runs, capped off by a walk-off home run from Caleb Daniel to defeat Auburn (20-8, 4-5 SEC) and improve to 6-2 against Top 15 opponents this season.

On the mound, the Tech bullpen combined for 6.1 shutout innings with only two hits allowed, two walks and seven strikeouts. Junior Dylan Loy entered the game in the fourth inning with one out and the bases full of Tigers. He would record a strikeout on three pitches before inducing an inning ending flyout, getting the Jackets out of the inning and keeping the lead, 6-3. That would start a string of excellent pitching that resulted in Tech retiring 17 of the last 18 Auburn hitters, allowing for the offense to pile on the runs for the eventual run-rule win in the eighth.

After giving up three runs in the top of the second, the Jacket offense took matters into their own hands, putting up six runs in response in the bottom of the inning, thanks to a two-run home run from Ryan Zuckerman a two-run double from Drew Burress and a towering two-run blast from Vahn Lackey. Mac Nease Baseball Park erupted again in the fourth inning, when Burressโ€™ single into left field was misplayed, leading to a little league home run and sending Tech in front, 8-3. The Jackets hung another two-spot in the bottom of the fifth thanks to their third two-run home run of the day, this time off the bat of Carson Kerce. The score would remain 10-3 until the 7th inning, when Alex Hernandez delivered an RBI double before coming around to score on a productive out. The score was 12-3, headed into the bottom of the eighth, when Daniel came off the bench and launched a no-doubt solo home run on the first pitch he saw to send the 4,033 Tech fans home happy.

Nine Tech players recorded base hits, nine scored at least one run and six recorded RBI as GT continues to prove why they are the best offense in the nation and potentially the best offense in BBCOR era history.

QUICK HITS: TEAM

  • The Jackets improve to 23-5, tied for the best 27-game record since 2010.
  • GT is 6-2 against ranked opponents for the first time since 2014 and 6-2 against Top 15 opponents for the first time since 2006.
  • Tech has won 23 games with five or fewer losses for only the 11th time in the programโ€™s 131 seasons: 2010, 2008, 2003, 2002, 1997, 1994, 1992, 1990, 1971 and 1906
  • The win puts head coach James Ramsey in a tie with his predecessor, Danny Hall, for the best record by any GT head coach through the first 28 games.
  • GT is now 17-2 at Mac Nease Baseball Park for the first time since 2010.
  • This was the first win over Auburn since 2023 and the first mercy-rule win in the series 250 game history.
  • This was the first game decided by run-rule in program history against an SEC team, giving Tech a 1-0 record vs. the SEC in games decided by a run-rule.
  • The 13 runs scored tonight were the most Tech has put up on an SEC opponent since scoring 13 against Georgia in 2013 and the most runs Tech has scored against Auburn since scoring 20 against them back in 2004.
  • Tech pitching held No. 11 Auburn to just three runs, marking the 21st time that GT has allowed five or fewer runs (75 % of games), GT is 21-0 when doing so.
  • This marked the second straight game and the 11th time this season the Tech bullpen has held an opponent scoreless.
  • The GT bullpen has not allowed a run in 9.1 innings. Thatโ€™s three innings shy of the season-long set over the course of four games from Feb. 24-March 1.
  • The offense scored 10+ runs for the 18th time in 28 games this season.
  • Tech has scored 320 runs through their first 28 games. Itโ€™s the most runs Georgia Tech has recorded after 28 games in the programโ€™s 131-year history and the most runs any Power 4 team has scored through 28 games in the BBCOR era (since 2011).
  • The Jackets scoring average now stands at 11.4 runs/game this season. The program record is 10.3, set back in 1984.
  • GT is outscoring its opponents 320-127, that +193 margin is the highest through 28 games in program history.
  • The Jackets recorded 11 hits, six of which were for extra bases (two doubles and four home runs). GT has recorded at least 10 hits in 22 of 28 games this season (78.6%).
  • The Jackets scored six runs in the second inning, marking the 21st inning this season with at least five runs scored (9.6% of total innings).
  • Tech improves to 11-0 in night games (games started after 6 p.m.) this season.

ย ย QUICK HITS: THE BATS

  • Junior Drew Burress led the team with three RBI, going 2-for-4 with a double and a single that would turn into an inside the park home run thanks to an Auburn error in the outfield.

  • He scored two runs, giving him 35 runs this season, the second most on the team behind Vahn Lackey (37). He has scored 185 runs as a Yellow Jacket, tying him with Jay Payton and Mark Fischer for the 20th most runs scored in Georgia Tech history.
  • He is now 11 runs away from tying the BBCOR era program record for career runs, currently held by Wade Bailey (196 runs – 2015-18).
  • His two-run go-ahead double in the second inning were his 150th and 151st RBI in White & Gold. He is now 20 RBI away from cracking the all-time Top 20 in program history.
  • He connected for his 10th double of the season, bringing his career total to 48, two shy of the all-time GT Top 20.

  • Junior Vahn Lackey went 1-for-4 at the plate, connecting for his team-leading 11th home run of the season, driving in two runs in the process.
  • Lackey has now hit as more home runs this season (11) than he did in his freshman and sophomore seasons combined.
  • He now stands at 38 RBI for the season, the most on the team. He continues to lead the Yellow Jackets offense in almost every offensive category this season: avg (.416), runs (37), home runs (11), RBI (38), slugging (.851) OBP (.532) and stolen bases (7-for-7).

  • Junior Ryan Zuckerman got the scoring started with his 10th home run of the season, a two-run 430-foot blast to the opposite field in the second inning. He is now three homers shy of his career high despite playing in just over half of the games it took him to accomplish it last season (10 HRs in 28 games in 2026 / 13 HRs in 55 games in 2025).
  • Zuckerman has driven in 36 runs this season, two behind Lackey for the most on the team.

  • Junior Kent Schmidt scored a pair of runs, going 1-for-2 with a pair of walks. He leads the team with 1.1 walks/game this season, standing three total walks shy of the team leader (Burress) despite playing in eight fewer games due to an injury earlier in the year.
  • Junior Carson Kerce led the team with three runs scored, going 2-for-3 with a two-run home run and a walk.
  • He has hit three home runs this season, one shy of his career high which he set last season.

  • Junior Jarren Advincula extended his hitting streak to a team-high 12 games and has recorded multiple hits in seven of his last nine games and nine of his last 12 dating back to March 10. He would match his career-long hitting streak should he collect a hit in each of the next three games against his former team, California.
  • Advincula finishes the month of March with multiple hits in 10 out of 17 games.

  • Sophomore Caleb Daniel came off the bench in the 8th inning, swinging at the first pitch he saw and depositing it 370 feet into the trees in right field.
  • It was his 7th home run of the season, the third most on the team behind Lackey and Zuckerman. Daniel has already matched his freshman year home run total this season.
  • The pitch he hit out was the first pitch he had seen in a game in nine days after not getting an at-bat this past series vs. NC State.
  • This was his first-career walk-off hit and the Jacketsโ€™ 5th walk off of the season, including each of the last two games.

  • Sophomore Alex Hernandez extended his on-base streak to a career best 30 games with an RBI double in the 7th He has reached base in every game this season.

QUICK HITS: THE ARMS

  • Freshman Cooper Underwood got his fifth start of the season, tossing a scoreless first inning before running into trouble in the second.
  • He was relieved by r-sophomore Jake Lankie who threw one pitch to induce an inning ending groundout for a tidy outing. This was his eighth outing of the season, matching his total appearances from last season. It was his sixth outing without allowing an earned run, dropping his ERA to 5.56 for the season.
  • Senior Kayden Campbell made his ninth appearance of the season to start the third inning recording an out before handing the ball off to Loy.
  • Junior Dylan Loy entered the game with the bases loaded in the third inning, recording a strikeout on three pitches before inducing an inning ending flyout to keep momentum on the GT side.
  • He would toss a 1-2-3 inning in the fourth, beginning what would become 11 consecutive outs by Tech pitchers.
  • Loy would get credit for the win, bringing his record to 2-1 for the season in his ninth appearance.
  • This was Loyโ€™s fourth appearance out of the bullpen this season. He has thrown 11.0 innings in relief this season, allowing only four hits and zero runs while striking out 11.
  • Senior Brett Barfield got the ball for the fifth inning, retiring all three Auburn batters he faced on only eight pitches.
  • He lowers his season ERA to 2.08, the lowest on the team. This was his 10th appearance of the season, the second most on the staff behind only Caden Gaudette.
  • Freshman Charlie Willcox pitched a 1-2-3 sixth inning recording a pair of strikeouts in his seventh appearance of the season. He has now struck out 12 in 10.1 inning of work this year.
  • R-junior Carson Ballard allowed a walk in the seventh but also struck out two to maintain the 8-3 advantage.
  • Senior Caden Spivey was dominant for the eighth inning, posting a 1-2-3 inning and striking out two on 13 pitches. He would be the last Yellow Jacket to touch the ball as Daniel connected for a walk-off home run in the bottom of the inning to secure the run-rule win.

Up Next

The Jackets carry a five-game winning streak out west for a three-game set with California (14-13, 1-8 ACC). The series will run Thursday-Saturday with game one slated for Thursday, April 2 at 9:05 ET.

Full Steam Ahead

Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athleticsโ€™ 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 Oโ€™Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to furtherย advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visitย atfund.org/FullSteamAheadย 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 onย X (@GTBaseball),ย Facebook,ย Instagram (@gt_baseball) or visit us atย www.ramblinwreck.com.

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