THE FLATS – Senior 3B Mallorie Black was named ACC Player of the Week, the conference office announced today. It is her first-career ACC weekly honor following a dazzling display of offense over the weekend against some of the best pitching staffs in the nation at the Shriners Children’s Clearwater Invitational. Black finished the weekend with a .727 batting average (eight for 11), adding two doubles, a home run, four RBI, two walks and a team-leading six runs scored, while also stealing a base and reaching via a hit-by-pitch.
In total, Black slashed .727 avg./.786 obp /1.182 slugging while facing some of the highest ranked teams across Division I.
Mallorie Black - Clearwater Invite
Black’s weekend began with a leadoff single in the second inning against No. 9 Stanford. She would immediately steal second base against Stanford’s catcher Aly Kaneshiro, the Power 5’s leader in caught stealings from a season ago. The Cumming native would later collect her first RBI of the weekend, in the bottom of the 5th, driving in Madison Dobbins for Georgia Tech’s fifth run of the day. Black would end the game in the on-deck circle but finished with a pair of hits and an RBI. Black’s hits helped the Jackets tally 13 base knocks against Stanford, more hits than the Cardinal had given up all of last season and the most hits against since 2022 (97 games).
Black’s bat was only getting warmed up as in her second game of the day, against No. 12 LSU, Black posted her first-career 4 for 4 day at the dish mashing a home run and a double while scoring three runs and driving in two. Once again, she was the first Jacket to record a hit, reaching via a 1st inning single. Her hit advanced Sara Beth Allen, who had walked just before, into scoring position, which allowed for both Allen and Black to score on an LSU error later that inning, the first runs LSU had surrendered all season after shutting out its opponents in each of its previous five games. Black continued her offensive performance with a double in the bottom of the third before connecting for a solo home run to keep the game alive in the bottom of the sixth inning, her third of the season. She polished off her 4 for 4 day with an RBI single in the Jackets’ four-run seventh, driving in Jin Sileo before coming home to score on a Tiffany Domingue homer. Her defense was on display throughout the game as well, recording two putouts and three assists from the hot corner without committing an error.
The next day, Black would go 2 for 3 with two runs scored, a walk and another double in Georgia Tech’s thrilling battle with Minnesota (RV). The senior from North Forsyth HS singled home Dobbins to start a four-run top of the 4th inning, before coming around to score on a double from Domingue. She kept the Tech momentum going in the 5th inning, lining a double to left field on the first pitch following a home run from Allen, although she would be stranded on second to end the inning. With one out and down four runs in the 7th inning, Black worked a walk, allowing for Dobbins to score on the resulting Minnesota error, and would come around to score on Emma Minghini’s two-out three-run home run to tie the game at 11.
Black’s career-best hitting streak of five games came to an end against No. 22 Northwestern, going 0 for 1 with a walk and a hit-by-pitch. She came around to score after being hit by a pitch in her second at-bat of the game, once again being driven in by Domingue. She walked in the fourth inning as well, setting up runners at the corners and only one out, but was stranded on first.
UP NEXT
Black and the Yellow Jackets look to keep the bats hot this week, hosting a mid-week cross-town rivalry game against Georgia State on Wednesday (5 p.m.) before taking part in the I-75 Challenge with six home games over the weekend at Mewborn Field. Tech will play three doubles headers from Friday (Feb. 23) – Sunday (Feb. 25) starting with UNC-Greensboro and Army at 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Robert Morris and UNCG at the same times on Saturday and a pair of games vs. Ball State beginning at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
Alexander-Tharpe Fund
The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is the fundraising arm of Georgia Tech athletics, providing scholarship, operations and facilities support for Tech’s 400-plus student-athletes. Be a part of the development of Yellow Jackets that thrive academically at the Institute and compete for championships at the highest levels of college athletics by supporting the Annual Athletic Scholarship Fund, which directly provides scholarships for Georgia Tech student-athletes. To learn more about supporting the Yellow Jackets, visit atfund.org.
For the latest information on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, follow us on Twitter (@GTAthletics), Facebook, Instagram or visit us at www.ramblinwreck.com.
