Jackets Slug Past Marshall, 11-6

THE FLATS – Georgia Tech baseball (6-1) got back into the win column on Sunday afternoon, scoring runs in all but two innings to defeat Marshall (1-6), 11-6 inside Mac Nease Baseball Park at Russ Chandler Stadium. The Yellow Jacket offense was bolstered by a pair of home runs off freshmen bats with Alex Hernandez (2^nd of the season) and Drew Rogers (1^st of the season) each launching long balls while senior RHP Mason Patel threw three more scoreless innings out of the bullpen to collect his second win of the week.

Tech got out to a four-run lead after three innings thanks to a tightrope act from starter Riley Stanford and a two-run blast from Hernandez. The steady barrage of offense continued inning after inning with the Jackets scoring at least one run in every inning except for the first and the seventh. After Marshall closed the gap to 4-3 following a three-run top of the fourth, Tech responded with a double from Drew Burress to score Carson Kerce (5-3 after 5). Patel entered the game to start the fifth and, just as he did earlier this week at Georgia Southern, quieted the bats, pitching 3.0 scoreless while the offense piled on. Tech would score four runs in the fifth thanks to the three-run shot from Rogers and a SAC fly from Parker Brosius and add on two more runs off an RBI from Vahn Lackey and another SAC fly, this time from Tyler Neises. Ryan Johnson made his collegiate debut in the ninth inning, securing the final two outs via strikeout to secure the Sunday afternoon win.

𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐭 𝐠𝐨!!!!@drew_rogers15 connects for his 1st career HR 💣

ACCNX – https://t.co/n7a5yNgNd4#StingEm🐝 x #WreckHavoc pic.twitter.com/vULmdCauGX

— Georgia Tech Baseball (@GTBaseball) February 23, 2025

𝐎𝐏𝐏𝐎 🌮 @_AlexHernandez2 💣

Alex's 2nd of the weekend got outta here QUICK. 106 off the bat

ACCNX – https://t.co/n7a5yNgNd4#StingEm🐝 x #WreckHavoc pic.twitter.com/ZJl7tMMSuS

— Georgia Tech Baseball (@GTBaseball) February 23, 2025

QUICK HITS: THE TEAM

• Tech improves to 6-1 for the second season in a row with the result today.
• The Jacket pitchers allowed six runs, the most so far in 2025 – Tech had held its opponents to fewer than five runs in each of its first six games for the first time since 2002.
• The Tech bullpen struck out four, bringing its season total to 54 Ks while holding opponents to a .180 average – the best numbers by a Tech bullpen through seven games since at least the turn of the century.
• Tech’s bullpen ERA stands at 2.50 – the lowest through seven games since 2020 (2.43).
• The Yellow Jackets lead the all-time series with Marshall 3-1 following today’s result.

QUICK HITS: THE BATS

• Junior shortstop Kyle Lodise secured his second straight 3-hit day for his fourth straight game reaching base at least three times and his second-career three-hit game at the Division I level – transferred from Augusta University this season.
• This is the second time in his career he has made three hits in consecutive starts, after doing so his freshman season against Claflin University in a doubleheader (March 11, 2023).
• Lodise leads the team with a .529 on-base percentage this season and is slashing .467 avg. / .600 OBP / .867 Slug. over the four games he’s played this week.
• The Brunswick, Ga. native has reached base in a career-best 19 straight games dating back to his time at Augusta.
• Freshman Drew Rogers connected on his first-career home run at the college level, a three-run blast to left field in the fifth inning to bring his season RBI total to four.
• Rogers has now secured an RBI in back-to-back appearances after posting his first-career RBI on a single at Georgia Southern earlier this week.
• Freshman Alex Hernandez did damage yet again today, connecting for a two-run home run in the third inning to put Tech in front, 4-0. It was his second of the year and second of the series after launching a grand slam on Friday.
• Hernandez leads all GT hitters with 8 RBI this week.
• Sophomore Drew Burress enjoyed a two-hit day, driving in his team-leading 10^th RBI of the season with a double in the fifth.
• Burress boasts 77 RBI in 65 games played over his GT career, currently the highest RBI/Game rate (1.18) in program history among those with at least 50 games played.
• Freshman Caleb Daniel made his third-career start, this time in left field. He went 2-for-4 and scored the games first run in the bottom of the second. He has delivered back-to-back multi-hit performances for the first time as a college baseball player.
• Junior right fielder Parker Brosius had himself a productive day. He didn’t record a hit but still secured two RBI thanks to a SAC fly and a bunt.
• Senior DH Nathan Waugh extended his on-base streak to 48 games with a base hit in the ninth, coming in as a pinch hitter. He has reached base in all six games he has appeared in this season after doing so in all 38 games last year, playing for Cornell. Waugh has successfully reached base in every game he’s played in since April 29, 2023.
• Sophomore Kent Schmidt extended his on-base streak to a career-best 15 games with a pair of hits today. He also drove in Daniel with a double in the second for his fourth RBI of the season.

QUICK HITS: THE ARMS

• Sophomore RHP Riley Stanford made his second career start, pitching the first three innings without allowing a run before exiting the game after allowing three in the top of the fourth.
• He has pitched at least 4.0 innings in both of his starts after never going further than 2.0 innings at any point last season.
• Senior Mason Patel made his case for ACC pitcher of the week with yet another stellar performance out of the bullpen. He threw 3.0 innings, allowing only two baserunners (one hit and one walk) while striking out two to collect his second win of the week.
• That brings his season numbers to 8.1 innings, 0.00 ERA, 2 hits, 1 walk and 11 strikeouts while holding opposing hitters to a .074 average against him.
• Freshman RHP Cole Royer pitched a scoreless eighth, working around a base knock to maintain his perfect ERA.
• Freshman Ryan Johnson made his collegiate debut, collecting a pair of strikeouts for the final two outs of the ninth.
• Patel, Royer and Johnson are three of the 12 pitchers from the GT bullpen to boast a 0.00 ERA early on in the season. Patel and Royer join senior Jaylen Paden (2), r-soph. Caden Gaudette (3), senior Sam Swygert (2) and junior Kayden Campbell (2) as the only pitchers to do so over multiple appearances.

UP NEXT­­
The Yellow Jackets continue the four-game series with Marshall tomorrow at 1 p.m. The game will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra.

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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