Tech Returns to the Top 25

THE FLATS – Georgia Tech baseball (20-4, 7-2 ACC) has been awarded the No. 19 ranking in Perfect Game‘s latest Top-25 poll and No. 25 in this week’s D1 Baseball and USA Today Coaches’ Poll. The Yellow Jackets earned their ranking by starting the year 20-4 and are coming off a road sweep over Notre Dame this past weekend. This is the first Top-25 rank for the Jackets since the 2022 season.

Georgia Tech is 20-4 for the first time in 14 seasons (2011), having earned its first ACC road sweep in nearly three years this past weekend (18-7(8), 9-5 and 10-2). Those wins propelled GT to a 7-2 conference record; its best ACC start since 2011.

The No. 19/25 Yellow Jackets will put their ranking on the line four times this week, first, on Tuesday at Kennesaw State (game played in Marietta at S. Walter Kelly Sr. Memorial Field) before welcoming in No. 6 Clemson (23-3, 4-2 ACC) for a weekend series at Mac Nease Baseball Park.

This Week’s Schedule

Tuesday – No. 19/25 GT at Kennesaw State – 6 p.m. – S. Walter Kelly Sr. Memorial Field

Friday – No. 19/25 GT vs. No. 3/6 Clemson – 6 p.m. – Rally Towels and Coach Hall Top 10 Wins Poster Giveaway – Tickets

Saturday – No. 19/25 GT vs. No. 3/6 Clemson – 4 p.m. – Free GT Chain Giveaway – Tickets

Sunday – No. 19/25 GT vs. No. 3/6 Clemson – 1 p.m. – All Abilities Day – Tickets

QUICK HITS

• The Jackets are 20-4 for the first time in 14 seasons (2011) and are ranked in Perfect Game (No. 19) and D1 Baseball (No. 25) for the first time since 2022.
• This past weekend (3-0 sweep at Notre Dame) was the 1st road sweep in conference play since sweeping Pitt in the final regular season series of 2022.
• Tech is 7-2 in ACC play for the first time since starting the 2011 ACC season 10-0.
• GT leads the nation in doubles (73) and doubles per game (3.04) – the program record for doubles/game is 2.51, set in the 1987 season.
• The pitching staff has struck out 12 or more batters four games in a row for the first time this century
• Tech pitching has a K/BB ratio of 2.58 – the highest through 24 games since 2019.
• GT Pitchers are striking out 10.7 batters per 9 innings – the 19^th highest mark in the country – Tech hasn’t struck out 10+ per nine over a full season since the turn of the century.
• Head Coach Danny Hall is one of the Top 10 winningest coaches in Division I history – 1,431 wins – 2nd most among active coaches after South Carolina hired Paul Mainieri out of retirement this year.
• Georgia Tech has replaced Texas as the only program in Division I with two head coaches in the Top 10 for career wins – also Jim Morris (5th – 1,594 – coached at Tech from 1982-93)
• Shortstop Kyle Lodise is one of only two players in the ACC to hit 3 HR in a game this year after doing so on Friday at Notre Dame – part of a 4 HR weekend for him
• Center Fielder Drew Burress is the fastest player to 30 HR in program history and leads Division I with a career slugging pct. of 795 – .074 above 2nd place
• Burress leads the ACC with 13 doubles – 2nd nationally – tied with Florida’s Colby Shelton for the most among Power 4 conferences.
• 1st basemen Kent Schmidt and 3rd baseman Carson Kerce are both hitting over .400 this season (Kerce – .417 // Schmidt – .415). It is the first time Tech has had two players batting over .400 through 24 games since 2013 (Brandon Thomas and Daniel Palka)
• Mason Patel leads the nation in victories (7) – he has played a part in the winning result of all eight games he has pitched in – 7 wins, 1 save.
• Freshman Alex Hernandez is the only Power 4 player with a save and at least 7 home runs this season – made his 1st career start on the mound last midweek vs. Gardner Webb, pitching 3.0 innings. He has started in six different positions this season: second base (9 games), left field (7 games), first base (four games), designated hitter (two games), pitcher (1 game) and right field (1 game).
• As a team – Tech is ranked 1st in the nation in doubles (73), 6th in batting average (.333), 6th in hits (273), 6th in slugging (.565), 9th in runs/game (9.5) and 14th in on-base (.438)

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.