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No. 15 Tech Fights Past Cal, 8-5

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THE FLATS – No. 15 Georgia Tech baseball (27-7, 12-4 ACC) utilized clutch hitting and some freshman power to defeat California (17-16, 6-10 ACC) by a final score of 8-5 on Friday night inside Mac Nease Baseball Park at Russ Chandler Stadium. The Yellow Jackets leaned on strong pitching from Tate McKee (5-0) and Mason Patel (2nd save) alongside big swings from Alex Hernandez, Will Baker and Vahn Lackey to take the opening game of the series.

QUICK HITS: THE TEAM

  • Tech is now 27-7. The best start to a season in 15 years (since 2010).
  • GT improves to 12-4 in ACC play for the first time since 2011 (13-3). With a win tomorrow, the Jackets would be tied with 2011 for the best ACC mark since 2010 (14-3).
  • The Jackets are 7-0 in games directly following a loss this year, winning by an average margin of 8.4 runs in bounce-back scenarios.
  • California leads the all-time series, 2-1 following today’s result, with Tech holding a 1-0 advantage in regular season meetings.
  • The Jackets continue to lead the nation in doubles, now with 102 as a team, after Carson Kerce secured his 13th of the season. Tech is the only program across Division I to have five players at 11 or more doubles: Drew Burress (18 – most in Power 4), Lodise (17), Kerce (13), Schmidt (11) and Caleb Daniel (11).
  • Georgia Tech is averaging 3.00 doubles per game this season (102 in 34 games) – the program record for doubles/game is 2.51, set in the 1987 season.
  • Tech pitching struck out nine Cal batters tonight, and are striking out 10.44 per-nine-innings this season, the program record for a full season is 10.00 set back in 1998.
  • The Yellow Jackets were without two of their top bats as Kyle Lodise missed his second straight game of the year while Kent Schmidt missed his 13th game in a row.

QUICK HITS: THE BATS

  • Freshman Alex Hernandez produced his first-career 4-for-4 day, getting three singles and a three-run home run in the fifth inning.
  • It goes down as his first 4-hit game and he becomes the first GT freshman to go 4-for-4 since Drew Burress’ four HR game against Georgia State last year (Feb. 27, 2024).
  • Hernandez reclaims the team RBI crown, driving in three tonight to push his total to 45, the most by any freshman in Division I up to this point.
  • It was his 10th HR of the season, joining Lodise (13) and Burress (12) in double digits, joining Wake Forest as the only ACC program with three 10+ HR players.

  • Freshman Will Baker connected for his second HR of the season to get the scoring started in the second. It was his second ACC homer of the year and his first at Mac Nease Baseball Park.
  • The Aussie has posted eight RBI over his last four games to bring his season output to 14.
  • He becomes the eighth Yellow Jacket to deliver multiple home runs this year.

  • Sophomore Vahn Lackey made his first-career start in the leadoff spot today, going 2-for-5 with a clutch two-out, two-RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning to add to insurance runs to the board, 8-5.
  • It was his 15th multi-hit game of the season and fourth in his last five games.
  • He extends his hitting streak to six games, the longest of any active player on the roster. He has driven in eight over that streak, including two more tonight for a season total of 27 RBI.

  • Sophomore Drew Burress extended his on-base streak to 52 games dating back to last season, drawing a walk and coming around to score. He has scored runs in 17 of his last 18 games dating back to March 11.
  • He fell just short of tying the longest hitting streak of his career, settling for an 11-game streak and looking to start another tomorrow.
  • Sophomore Carson Kerce connected for his 13th double of the season and fifth in ACC play, today. He came around to score for his 30th run of the season.
  • Kerce has scored in four straight games and has scored 15 runs over his last 14 games dating back to March 18.
  • Senior John Giesler continued his hot streak, going 1-for-3 with two runs scored. He is batting .400 (.400/.567/.486) with 11 runs scored over his last 10 games after beginning the season hitting .133 in his first eight games since recovering from injury.
  • Freshman Connor Shouse extended his career-long on-base streak to five games with a walk in the eighth inning, coming home to score on a play at the plate thanks to Lackey’s single.

QUICK HITS: THE ARMS

  • Sophomore Tate McKee made his ninth consecutive Friday night start, dominating the order his first time through, (3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 3 Ks) before finishing the outing 5.2 IP, 3 hits, two earned runs and six strikeouts.
  • It was his second time this season recording multiple outs in the sixth inning, coming up one out shy of his career-long (6.0 IP) set earlier this season, against Pitt.
  • McKee leads the team with 55 strikeouts, becoming the first Tech pitcher to eclipse 50 with today’s outing.
  • He has struck out at least five in seven of his nine starts this year.
  • Tech improves to 8-1 in games started by McKee this year.
  • His 103 pitches tonight mark a career-high, his third 100+ pitch outing of the season and fourth of his career.

  • Senior Mason Patel added to his legacy tonight, pitching the final 3.1 innings of play to collect his second save of the season.
  • Patel has played a role in the final result of all 11 of his appearances this season, boasting an 8-1 record (the most wins in Division I) with two saves.
  • He recorded his 40th strikeout of the season tonight, his first 40 K season in college. So far this year, Patel has set career highs in innings (41.1), strikeouts (40), wins (8) and saves (2).

Head Coach Danny Hall, 2B Alex Hernandez & C Vahn Lackey meet with media

UP NEXT­­

The No. 15 Jackets go for the series win against California (17-16, 6-10 ACC) tomorrow at 4 p.m. at Mac Nease Baseball Park. The game will be streamed live on ACCNX and tickets are available for purchase HERE

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.

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