Open mobile menu

Late Inning Surge Leads to Series Win at Stanford

STANFORD, Calif. – No. 22 Georgia Tech baseball (25-6, 10-4 ACC) scored seven unanswered runs in the 8th and 9th innings to take the series at Stanford (17-11, 5-9 ACC) by a final score of 10-3 on Saturday afternoon on Klein Field at Sunken Diamond. The victory improves Tech’s road record to 9-1 this season, tied with 2010 for the best start road start in the program’s 130-year history.

The Yellow Jackets scored runs in the top half of each of the final three innings, recording double plays in the bottom half of all three as well, seizing all momentum and coming away with the seven-run victory.

The game was tied, 3-3, headed into the eighth, when Drew Burress led off with his 11th home run of the season to put the Yellow Jackets in front, 4-3. Caleb Daniel and Alex Hernandez kept the momentum going, lacing back-to-back hits including an RBI double from Hernandez to put Tech up 5-3, before Vahn Lackey drove in Hernandez with a SAC fly. An inning ending 4-6-3 double play kept the Jackets buzzing, leading to a four-run top of the ninth featuring RBI singles from both Carson Kerce and Vahn Lackey as Tech poured onto the lead, securing its third double play in the bottom of the ninth to put away Stanford and take its third ACC road series of the year.

QUICK HITS: THE TEAM

  • Tech is now 25-6. The best start to a season in 15 years (since 2010).
  • The Jackets are 9-1 on the road this year, tied with 2010 for the best road start in program history, dating back to 1895.
  • GT has now won three straight ACC road series (at VT, at ND and at Stanford) for the first time since 2019. Tech has not swept back-to-back road series, in conference, since 2004.
  • Georgia Tech leads the all-time series with Stanford, 2-0 following today’s result.
  • The Jackets become the first team in the ACC to reach 10 conference wins.
  • The defense turned a season-high three double plays, all taking place in the 7th, 8th and 9th
  • The Jackets posted four doubles and continue to lead the nation, now with 96 as a team – the most doubles hit by a Tech team through 31 games since at least the turn of the century.
  • Georgia Tech is averaging 3.10 doubles per game this season (96 in 31 games) – the program record for doubles/game is 2.51, set in the 1987 season.
  • Tech pitching brought the season total to 312 striekouts this season while only walking 120 for a K/BB ratio of 2.575.
  • The Jacket arms are striking out 10.68 per-nine-innings this season, the program record for a full season is 10.00 set back in 1998.

QUICK HITS: THE BATS

  • Sophomore Drew Burress extended his on-base streak to 49 games dating back to last season, going 2-for-5 with a go-ahead solo homer and his ACC leading 17th He has scored runs in 14 of his last 15 games dating back to March 11.
  • The home run was his 11th of the season and 36th of his Georgia Tech career, bringing him into a seven-way tie for 18th on the all-time home run leaderboard. He has tied Scott Jordan (1982-85), Jeff Distasio (1983-86), Darren Bragg (1988-91), Jay Payton (1992-94), Mark Teixeira (1999-01) and Drew Compton (2020-23) on the GT home runs charts and places his tied for 4th all-time in the BBCOR era (since 2011).
  • The Houston County man leads all Power 4 players with 17 doubles this season, connecting for one in the four-run ninth inning before coming around to score.
  • Sophomore Vahn Lackey continued his excellent series, going 2-for-4 with a double, two RBI and a run scored.
  • He leads the team with three extra base hits this series (two doubles, one home run) and has recorded four of his 10 XBH this season in the last three games (HR vs. Mercer – April 1).
  • This was Lackey’s 13th multi-hit game of the season after only doing so three times as a freshman, last season.
  • Junior shortstop Kyle Lodise extended his career-best on-base streak to 44 games, going 1-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored.
  • He was responsible for driving in each of the first two runs of the game, helping Tech take the lead in the third with a SAC fly before driving in Connor Shouse with an infield single.
  • He has scored at least one run in 87.1% of games this season (27-of-31) with two of those scoreless games coming in the first weekend of the year.
  • His MLB draft stock continues to rise as he now had 13 hits, 18 RBI and 14 runs over his last seven games and leads the team with 16 multi-hit games this season (31 games played).
  • In ACC play, Lodise is slashing .419/.952/.479, all team-highs, with 16 extra-base hits (seven doubles, one triple, eight home runs).
  • He took over the team-lead in RBI with 42. Lodise now leads, or is tied for the lead, in at bats (124), runs (47), hits (49), triples (2), HR (12), RBI (42), slugging (.847) on-base (.500) and assists (68).
  • Freshman Caleb Daniel scored two more runs today, he is third on the team with 33 runs scored this year despite starting in six fewer games than most other GT starters.
  • Sophomore Carson Kerce drove in two runs in the Jackets’ four run ninth inning, his ninth multi-RBI game of the season – the third-most on the team behind only Lodise and Burress.
  • Freshman Alex Hernandez brought his season RBI total to 41 with a double in the eighth to make it a 5-3 ballgame.
  • It’s the most RBI by any Power 4 freshman this season and the second most in Division I among first-year players.
  • Senior John Giesler recorded his second multi-hit game of the year, going 2-for-3 with an RBI, a run scored and a walk.
  • Sophomore Tyler Neises extended his on-base streak to six games with a walk today.

QUICK HITS: THE ARMS

  • Junior Brady Jones made his eighth straight Saturday start, pitching a career-best 5.1 innings allowing five hits, and two earned runs.
  • Jones has only allowed three extra-base hits over 28.2 innings pitched this season and leads all Tech starting pitchers with a 3.38 ERA in ACC play.
  • Senior Jaylen Paden pitched the final 3.2 innings, allowing six hits but also inducing three double plays.
  • He would collect the win, improving to 2-0 on the year over 18.1 innings.
  • Paden lowered his season ERA to 0.98, the lowest among all GT pitchers on the staff.

UP NEXT­­
The No. 22 Jackets will go for the sweep victory tomorrow, at 4:05 p.m. ET from Sunken Diamond. Junior Caden Spivey (3-0) will make his third start of the season (1-0 / 3.07 ERA) against Stanford’s Matt Scott (4-1 / 5.01 ERA). 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.

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.

RELATED HEADLINES

Baseball No. 22 Jackets Claim Series Opener at Stanford

Tech off to its best 30-game start since 2010

No. 22 Jackets Claim Series Opener at Stanford
Baseball Baseball Announces Jim Poole Day: April 27

Tech will honor Jim Poole on April 27th at 1 p.m. vs. Virginia

Baseball Announces Jim Poole Day: April 27
Baseball Drew Burress Named to Midseason Golden Spikes Award Watch List

Burress leads all Power 4 players with 16 doubles this season

Drew Burress Named to Midseason Golden Spikes Award Watch List
Partner of Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Legends Partner of Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Partner of Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Partner of Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets