THE FLATS – Georgia Tech baseball (32-14, 15-9 ACC) secured the series victory over Western Carolina (23-23) on Saturday afternoon, using strong pitching from Brady Jones and Mason Patel to earn a 4-2 win inside Mac Nease Baseball Park at Russ Chandler Stadium. Jones threw his third quality start of the year, racking up a career-best nine strikeouts before Patel tossed the final three innings to record his team-leading fourth save, just hours after graduating from Georgia Tech, earlier that morning.
QUICK HITS: THE TEAM
- Tech is now 32-14, tied with 2019 for the best start to a season in 14 years (since 2011).
- The Jackets connected for two doubles today, bringing the season total to 121, the most among Power 4 schools.
- Georgia Tech is averaging 2.63 doubles per game this season (121 in 46 games) – the program record for doubles/game is 2.51, set in 1987.
- Kyle Lodise recorded an RBI off a SAC fly. Georgia Tech leads the nation with 37 SAC flies this season, nine behind the program record (46) set back in 2000, and the most in a season since 2019 (41).
- The pitching staff struck out 13 batters today, marking the 34th time this season that the pitchers have struck out at least one-per-inning pitched (73.9 percent).
- 13 strikeouts is the most in a game since the series finale against Clemson (March 29).
QUICK HITS: THE BATS
- Freshman Alex Hernandez put the Jackets in front with a two-run double in the sixth inning, scoring Lodise and Drew Burress. It was his 50th and 51st RBI of the season – the most on the team and the most among Power 4 freshmen.
CLUTCH hitting from @_AlexHernandez2 gives us the lead!
He's up to 51 RBI on the season, 1st among Yellow Jackets, 1st among Power 4 freshmen 😤
ACCNX – https://t.co/hkghkNeQAF#StingEm🐝 x #WreckHavoc pic.twitter.com/6dtn2GpEA3
— Georgia Tech Baseball (@GTBaseball) May 3, 2025
- Freshman Caleb Daniel extended his on-base streak to 12 games, the longest active streak on the team. He would go 2-for-4 with a run scored.
- It was his third straight multi-hit game, the first time he has accomplished that, and his 15th multi-hit game of the year.
- Daniel as scored 43 runs this season, the fifth most among Power 4 freshmen.
- Junior Kyle Lodise reached base with a hit-by-pitch in the sixth inning, stealing his third bag of the weekend before coming around to score on Hernandez’ double, his 57th run of the year.
- Sophomore Drew Burress reached base for the seventh game in a row and 45th time out of 46 games this season, drawing a walk in the sixth before scoring on the Hernandez
- He leads the team with 60 runs scored this season, becoming the first Yellow Jacket to score 60+ runs in back-to-back seasons since Jeff Rowland and Derek Dietrich in 2009 & 2010. There has not been a Jacket score 70+ in consecutive seasons since Richard Lewis in 2000 and 2001 – Burress scored 73 runs in 2024.
- Freshman Will Baker added an insurance run in the seventh to make it a 4-1 game. He has either scored or driven in a run in each of his last three games.
QUICK HITS: THE ARMS
- Junior Brady Jones made his 12th straight Saturday start, pitching 6.0 innings with a career-high nine strikeouts, allowing only four hits and one earned run.
- Jones becomes the second GT pitcher to reach 60 strikeouts, joining Tate McKee (65).
- He lowers his ERA to 4.33 this season and takes over the team lead with three quality starts, all coming in his last four games.
- The effort sent him back to the win column, giving him a 5-2 record.
Brady Jones!! Not immaculate but striking out the side on 10 pitches will have to do 😮💨
ACCNX – https://t.co/hkghkNeQAF#StingEm🐝 x #WreckHavoc x @B_Jones_99 pic.twitter.com/kXbasdHtVy
— Georgia Tech Baseball (@GTBaseball) May 3, 2025
- Senior Mason Patel pitched the final three innings, allowing only one run and striking out four to collect his team-leading fourth save of the season.
- He graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in Applied Languages (Spanish) earlier in the day.
- Patel has played a part in the end result in 14 of his 16 appearances this season, posting a 9-1 record with four saves.
Patel paints the corner for the clutch ꓘ
ACCNX – https://t.co/hkghkNeQAF#StingEm🐝 x #WreckHavoc X @Mason_Patel pic.twitter.com/TMMRJ1URop
— Georgia Tech Baseball (@GTBaseball) May 3, 2025
UP NEXT
The Jackets will go for the sweep over Western Carolina (23-23) tomorrow, May 4, at 1 p.m. Tech is expected to start senior RHP Jaylen Paden (4-1 / 2.67 ERA). Tickets are available at ramblinwreck.com/tickets
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.
For the latest information on the Georgia Tech baseball team, follow us on Twitter (@GTBaseball), Facebook, Instagram (@gt_baseball) or visit us at www.ramblinwreck.com
