Tech Renews Rivalry with West Georgia on Wednesday

GEORGIA TECH YELLOW JACKETS vs. WEST GEORGIA WOLVES
Feb. 26, 2025 • 4 PM
Atlanta, Ga. (Mac Nease Baseball Park at Russ Chandler Stadium)

Ticket Information | Parking | Promotions

Probable Starting Pitchers

Connor Chicoli 0-0 RHP (GT) vs. Evimael Quiles 0-0 RHP (UWG)

Wednesday – 4 PM
TV: ACC Network Extra | Watch Live
Play-by-Play: Wiley Ballard
Analyst: Dusty Isaacs

Radio: GT Gameday App 
Play-by-Play: Colin Lacy

Live Stats

SERIES STATS

Overall: GT leads, 11-9

Home: GT leads, 10-6

Last Game: Wednesday will be the first meeting since 1988 after playing frequently from 1974-88. The Jackets won the last game, 3-1, in 1988.

GAMEDAY CENTRAL
Game Notes | Gameday Rosters

TOP STORYLINES

• Georgia Tech baseball continues its season-long nine game homestand this week with a Wednesday midweek against West Georgia, renewing an in-state rivalry that has not been played since 1988.
• Headlining the returners is 2024 National Freshman of the Year and No. 1 sophomore in college baseball (according to Perfect Game), Drew Burress. Burress has been dubbed a preseason 1st team all-American by multiple outlets for 2025 & is currently Division I’s active leader in slugging percentage (.825).
• Burress kicked off his sophomore encore with a walk-off grand slam during opening weekend, his first walk off HR at GT. He followed that with a solo shot at Georgia Southern, a part of GT’s first back-to-back homers of the season after Kyle Lodise launched his first as a Jacket one at-bat prior.
• The Houston Co. product leads Georgia Tech in home runs (3) and RBI (13) this season. His 13 RBI ranks 17th in Division I and 4th in the ACC. He is currently on pace for 74 RBI this season, an improvement over his already stellar 67 from last year.
• The Jackets feature 10 transfers and 15 freshman – the No. 2 ranked recruiting class in the nation according to Perfect Game – Tech’s highest ranked class since PG started ranking in 2011.
• The class features 3 players ranked in PG’s National top-100: Drew Rogers (Catcher – No. 23), Connor Shouse (RHP/INF – No. 83), Alex Hernandez (RHP/INF – No. 96). It also contains one draft pick – Cole Royer – drafted in the 20th round (601st overall) by the Yankees).
• Hernandez is the only underclassmen in Division I with a save and multiple HRs this season (FR – 1 SV, 2 HR). He is one of only three players in DI and two in P4 who can claim that– also Bryce Calloway, New Orleans (SR – 1 SV, 4 HR) and Ethan Hedges, USC (JR – 2 SV, 3 HR)
• Head Coach Danny Hall enters his 32nd season at GT and his 38th year as a college head coach. He currently has 1,417 career wins – the 11th most all-time and 2nd most among active NCAA head coaches after South Carolina hired Paul Mainieri (1,513) out of retirement this season.
• The pitching staff has been the highlight of the season, boasting 11.3 strikeouts-per-game this season – a more than 2 Ks-per-game improvement over last season (9.2) – Tech has not averaged double-digit strikeouts from the pitching staff since the COVID shortened 2020 season (10.9) and hasn’t done it over a complete season this century.
• The Tech bullpen has struck out 61 batters this year – the most through eight games since at least the turn of the century.
• That early bullpen success has been spearheaded by Mason Patel who was just named ACC Co-Pitcher of the Week after pitching 8.1 innings with a 0.00 ERA and 11 strikeouts, including 16 straight batters retired in his season debut at Georgia Southern.
• Patel is Tech’s first ACC Pitcher of the Week since Andy Archer in 2021.
• The Knoxville, Tenn native is one of 14 Power 4 pitchers (5 in the ACC) who haven’t allowed a run while pitching more than 8 innings this season. His 0.36 WHIP ranks 2nd in the ACC and 14th in the nation.
• Offensively, GT is third in the nation with 25 doubles as a team – led by four each from Kyle Lodise, Kent Schmidt and Carson Kerce.
• Tech is one of eight programs in DI with three players at 4+ doubles this year and one of only three P4 programs: also Dallas Baptist, FIU, FAU, Rutgers, San Francisco, Southern Miss and Virginia Tech.
• Lodise is on a considerable hot-streak, reaching base at least three times in each of his last five games and slashing .500 avg. / .640 obp / .889 slug % over that time – all team-highs.
• Lodise is the only Yellow Jacket on the roster with experience facing West Georgia, playing them four times each of his first two seasons, playing at Augusta University. His career numbrs against UWG stand at: 9-for-29 (.310 avg) / 1 double / 7 walks / 12 runs scored / 2 RBI / 5 stolen bases
• Parker Brosius leads the team with five stolen bases, the 2nd most in the ACC and 24th across Division I.

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.