Jackets Sweep Old Dominion

THE FLATS – Georgia Tech baseball (3-0) polished off the perfect opening weekend, downing Old Dominion (0-3), 7-4 on Sunday afternoon inside Mac Nease Baseball Park at Russ Chandler Stadium. The Yellow Jackets used a two-run home run from Nathan Waugh to take the lead in the fifth inning and a three-run seventh, including the go-ahead RBI off the bat of Waugh to overpower the Monarchs and secure their fourth consecutive opening series sweep.

QUICK HITS: THE TEAM

• Georgia Tech has now swept the opening series in four consecutive seasons.
• The pitching staff allowed nine runs over the course of the series, a 10-run improvement after averaging 19 runs allowed over the previous three opening series sweeps (14 RA in 2024, 24 RA in 2023 and 19 RA in 2022).
• GT has hit a home run in six straight games dating back to last season, thanks to a two-run opposite field blast from Nathan Waugh in the fifth inning.
• The Jacket pitchers struck out 10 more batters today, bringing the weekend total to 40 – tied with 2022 for the most strikeouts through three games this century (since at least 2000).
• Through three games the Georgia Tech pitching staff has a combined 2.67 ERA, the lowest since the 2017 season (2.33). They have held opponents to a .200 batting average this season, the lowest through three games since 2016 (.185).

QUICK HITS: THE BATS

• Senior DH Nathan Waugh extended his on-base streak to 45 games with a 2-for-4 performance today, including his 1^st home run as a Yellow Jacket. He reached base in all 38 games last season, playing for Cornell. Waugh has successfully reached base in every game he’s played in since April 29, 2023.
• Waugh led the offense with three RBI, a two-run go-ahead home run in the bottom of the fifth and a go-ahead single in the bottom of the seventh. It was his first multi-RBI day as a Yellow Jacket and the 19^th of his college career.
• He would also come around to score twice – his 25^th career game with multiple runs scored.
• Sophomore Drew Burress added another RBI to his career total with a SAC fly in the fifth inning to get GT on the board. It was his team-leading 5^th RBI of the season and 72^nd of his still young career.
• Burress is averaging 1.18 RBI per game over his GT career with 72 RBI in 61 total games played. Georgia Tech’s all-time leader in RBI (Jason Varitek) had 251 in 253 games (.99 RBI/game).
• Junior Carson Kerce went 3-for-4 at this dish today with two doubles and a run scored. It was his third-career multi-hit performance, his first of 2025, and his first-career game with multiple extra base hits.
• Sophomore Kent Schmidt secured his first multi-hit performance in White & Gold, connecting for a single and his first double of the season. He would score two runs on the day, his 9^th career mutli-run game after doing so eight times with Georgia Southern last season.
• Schmidt leads GT in slugging (.727) and OBP (.462) headed into a showdown with his former program on Tuesday.

QUICK HITS: THE ARMS

• Sophomore RHP Riley Stanford made his first career start, pitching 4.0 innings and allowing only one run off a solo shot to right field. He struck out a career-high five batters over those four innings, showcasing his clutch abilities to work his way around five hits and a walk with only one run allowed.
• Sophomore RHP Porter Buursema had a tremendous debut in White & Gold, throwing 2.2 innings as the first out of the bullpen, striking out six of the first seven batters he faced before running into some trouble in the seventh inning. He has not struck out more than four in any of his six appearances at Georgia Southern last season.
• Junior LHP Kayden Campbell worked the Jackets out of a jam during his first appearance as a Yellow Jacket in the seventh, coming in with the bases loaded and two outs, he allowed a single that scored two inherited runners before striking out the ODU batter to leave the game tied, 4-4. Campbell transferred into the program from Louisville this year.
• Freshman RHP Alex Hernandez showcased his versatility, coming in to pitch the final 1.2 innings to earn his first career save after starting the game at second base.
• Hernandez entered the game in the top of the eighth with the tying run at the plate and one out, inducing a pop up and a groundout to get Tech into the 9^th, where sent ODU down in order with his first two strikeouts as a college pitcher.
• Hernandez started all three games of the opening series for Tech, seeing time at second base, left field and pitcher.

UP NEXT­­
The Yellow Jackets hit the road for the first time in 2025, traveling down to Statesboro for a Tuesday night mid-week battle against Georgia Southern. First pitch is set for 6 pm on Tuesday, February 18. The game will be streamed 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.

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