Another 9th Inning Rally Clinches Series over Virginia TechAnother 9th Inning Rally Clinches Series over Virginia Tech
Baseball

Another 9th Inning Rally Clinches Series over Virginia Tech

Caleb Daniel drives in game-winning run in the 9th inning as GT wins, 8-6

Box Score

BLACKSBURG, Va. – Georgia Tech baseball (13-3, 2-1 ACC) delivered its second ninth-inning rally of the weekend, scoring the go-ahead run off a ground-rule double from freshman Caleb Daniel before sophomore Carson Kerce drove in an insurance run to make it an 8-6 victory over Virginia Tech (11-5, 1-2 ACC) on Sunday afternoon at English Field at Atlantic Union Bank Park in Blacksburg, Va.

The game began with plenty of offense as both teams combined for 11 runs over the first three innings with GT in front, 6-5. Virginia Tech would tie the game in the seventh before the Cardiac Jackets reared their heads with the ninth inning heroics to win, 8-6.

The bottom of the order was pulling its weight from the start, with Tech’s six (Vahn Lackey), seven (Parker Brosius), eight (Daniel) and nine (Kerce) hitters combining for seven hits, seven runs and five RBI to help Georgia Tech claim its opening series of Atlantic Coast Conference play.

QUICK HITS: THE TEAM

  • Tech improves to 13-3 this season for the third time in the last four years, tied for the best 16-game start to a season since 2013.
  • The Jackets have won their first series of ACC play for the sixth year in a row and have won the first ACC road series for the first time since 2021.
  • GT has won three games this season while tied or trailing going into the ninth inning, including doing so twice in ACC play, already matching the win total from last season.
  • The Yellow Jackets lead the all-time series with Virginia Tech, 46-25, following today’s result.
  • Georgia Tech has won back-to-back series against Virginia Tech and 10 of the last 11 series, dating back to 2013.
  • This was head coach Danny Hall’s 1,424th victory as a college baseball coach, just three away from tying Cliff Gustafson (1,427) for the 10th most in NCAA history.

 

QUICK HITS: THE BATS

  • Freshman Caleb Daniel doubled his season RBI total with a three RBI performance in the eight-spot. He went 2-for-4 with a two-RBI triple in the third and a would-be two-RBI double in the ninth that bounced over the wall to hold Brosius at third.

  • This was Daniel’s second multi-RBI game of the weekend and his career after driving in two during GT’s 4-2 win on Friday.
  • He leads the team with five RBI in ACC play this year after driving in just one in his eight non-conference games.
  • Sophomore Vahn Lackey went 2-for-4 with two runs scored, he has recorded multiple hits in seven of his last eight games and leads the team with a .433 batting average, the best average by a Jacket with at least 50 ABs through 16 games since Chandler Simpson in 2022.
  • He extended his hitting streak to a career-best eight games and on-base streak to 21-games dating back to last season.
  • Junior Parker Brosius tied a career high with three runs scored today, coming around in every inning the Jackets tallied in.
  • He scored three runs twice before but never in an ACC game (vs. Youngstown St. and Georgia St. last season).
  • Sophomore Carson Kerce drove in two runs for his eighth career multi-RBI game and third of the season.
  • Junior shortstop Kyle Lodise matched his season high with three hits this afternoon. It was his third three-hit game of the season and his first in ACC play.
  • The Brunswick, Ga. native has reached base in a career-best 28 straight games dating back to his time at Augusta University and is in the midst of a team-best 11-game hitting streak.
  • Freshman Alex Hernandez has reached base safely in all 16 games he has played at the college level after drawing two walks.
  • Sophomore Kent Schmidt extended his career-best on-base streak to 24 games with a single in the eighth inning. He now owns a 10-game hitting streak, one shy of his career-long.
  • Sophomore Tyler Neises has now reached base safely in a career-best nine games in a row after being hit by a pitch today.
  • Sophomore Drew Burress extended his career-long on-base streak to 34 games with a walk in the eighth inning.

QUICK HITS: THE ARMS

  • Senior RHP Jaylen Paden made his fourth appearance out of the bullpen, pitching a season-long 3.2 innings, retiring the first eight batters he saw to silence the Virginia Tech bats that had scored runs in each of the previous three.
  • He allowed only two hits and five total base runners while throwing 72 pitches, the most he has thrown since returning from Tommy John surgery that forced him to miss the entire 2024 season.
  • Junior RHP Caden Spivey pitched 1.1 scoreless innings in relief, striking out one and walking two. He would get credit for the victory, the sixth of his career and first in White & Gold after transferring in from Notre Dame this season.
  • Junior LHP Brett Barfield recorded his 20th career strikeout, coming in to begin the ninth inning and getting outs from both of the lefty batters he faced.
  • Freshman RHP Cooper McMullen entered for the final out, inducing a fly ball on his one and only pitch. That effort was good enough for the save, his first as a college pitcher.
  • McMullen has pitched 5.2 innings without allowing a run, matching Tate McKee’s mark he set to begin his career last season.

UP NEXT­­
The Jackets return to the friendly confines of Mac Nease Baseball Park for a Tuesday night scrap with cross-town rival Georgia State. Both starting pitchers are TBA, first pitch is slated for 6 p.m. and 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.