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No. 15 Tech Mercy-Rules Cal, 15-5

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THE FLATS – No. 15 Georgia Tech baseball (28-7, 13-4 ACC) put on a show on Saturday afternoon, posting 15 runs to defeat California (17-17, 6-11 ACC) via mercy-rule, 15-5 (8 innings) inside Mac Nease Baseball Park at Russ Chandler Stadium. Brady Jones delivered his first-career quality start on the mound while all nine Tech starters reached base at least once, headlined by 5 RBI from John Giesler.

The Jackets scored in all but two innings today, capped off by a five-run eighth inning to secure the run-rule win.

Head Coach Danny Hall and 1B John Giesler

QUICK HITS: THE TEAM

  • Tech is now 28-7. The best start to a season in 15 years (since 2010) and tied for the fifth-best start in the Danny Hall era (since 1994).
  • GT improves to 13-4 in ACC play, tied for the best start since 2010 (14-3).
  • The Jackets secured their 10th mercy-rule win of the season, surpassing last year’s total despite playing in 22 fewer games.
  • Tech has now won at least one game via mercy-rule in each of its last five ACC series (11-1 (7) vs. Pitt / 18-7 (8) at ND / 18-2 (7) vs. No. 3 Clemson / 18-2 (7) at Stanford / 15-5 vs. Cal).
  • Georgia Tech ties the all-time series, 2-2 following today’s result, with Tech holding a 2-0 advantage in regular season meetings.
  • The Jackets continue to lead the nation in doubles, now with 104 as a team, after Carson Kerce secured his 14th of the season and Alex Hernandez posted his seventh.
  • 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 (14), Schmidt (11) and Caleb Daniel (11).
  • Georgia Tech is averaging 2.97 doubles per game this season (104 in 35 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 10.43 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 third straight game of the year while Kent Schmidt missed his 14th game in a row. The offense hasn’t seemed to skip a beat despite the injuries – Tech averaged 9.10 runs-per-game with both bats in the lineup and has averaged 10.33 runs in their absence over the last three games.

QUICK HITS: THE BATS

  • Freshman Alex Hernandez reached base in all five plate appearances today, going 3-for-3 with a double, two walks and four runs scored after posting his first-career 4-for-4 game on Friday. He is 7-for-7 for the series, reaching base in all nine plate appearances.
  • His four runs tie the career high he set in the series opener at Notre Dame (March 21).
  • Hernandez has recorded multiple hits in tree-straight games for the second time this season as he extends his hitting streak to six games. He is slashing .565 / .643 / .783 over his last six games, lifting his average .042 points over that stretch, up to .366 today.
  • Sophomore Carson Kerce set a career high with four runs scored, going 2-for-2 with a double, two walks and a SAC fly.
  • He has scored in five straight games and has scored 19 runs over his last 15 games dating back to March 18.
  • Senior John Giesler continued his hot streak, going 3-for-4 and tying his career-best with five RBI. He is batting .441 (.441/.538/.676) with 13 runs scored over his last 10 games after beginning the season hitting .133 in his first eight games since recovering from injury.
  • The Marietta man connected for a three-run home run in the fifth inning to make it an 8-3 ballgame, driving in the eventual game-winning runs. It was his second HR of the season and 21st in White & Gold.
  • He becomes the fifth Yellow Jacket to produce five or more RBI in a game this season, joining Lodise (2), Hernandez (2), Schmidt (1) and Caleb Daniel (1).

  • Sophomore Drew Burress extended his on-base streak to 53 games dating back to last season, going 2-for-5 with a walk and the walk-off RBI off a single in the eighth. He has scored runs in 18 of his last 19 games dating back to March 11.
  • This was his team-leading 18th multi-hit game of the season and eighth in his last 10 showings.
  • Sophomore Vahn Lackey made his second-career start in the leadoff spot today, starting the day off with gusto, smashing his 4th HR of the year for Tech’s third leadoff HR of the season and first off the bat of someone other than Lodise.
  • Lackey would end up going 2-for-4 with a pair of walks and three RBI – his 16th multi-hit game of the season and fifth in his last six games.
  • He extends his hitting streak to seven games, the longest of any active player on the roster. He has driven in 11 over that streak, including three more tonight for a season total of 30 RBI.
  • The Suwanee native becomes the fourth Jacket to reach 30 RBI this year, behind Hernandez (45), Lodise (44) and Burress (44).

  • R-Freshman Nathanael Coupet earned his first-career start today, going 1-for-2 with a walk, a HBP and a SAC fly for a three RBI day.
  • He has taken advantage of his opportunities this month, going 3-for-4 over three games in the month of April with 8 RBI – the 5th most on the team.

 

QUICK HITS: THE ARMS

  • Junior Brady Jones posted his first-career quality start today, pitching a career-best 6.0 innings on a career-high 99 pitches, striking out seven while allowing six hits and four earned runs.
  • This was his third 7+ K outing of the season and his first in an ACC game.
  • He becomes the third Tech pitcher to toss at least 6.0 innings in a game this year, joining Friday night starter Tate McKee and midseason 1st Team All-American Mason Patel.
  • Jones was nearly untouchable early on, striking out five of the first eight batters he faced.
  • He would get credit for the win, improving his record to 4-0 this season.

  • R-Sophomore Carson Ballard was first out of the pen, securing a 1-2-3 top of the seventh while adding a strikeout to his tally – 19 in 16.1 innings this year.
  • Junior Brett Barfield secured what would be the final two outs of the game in the top of the eighth, taking care of both batters he faced and finishing his day with a three-pitch strikeout, his 11th of the year over 9.0 innings.
  • Barfield has allowed only one earned run over his last nine appearances, bringing his season ERA down to an even 2.00 with today’s performance.

UP NEXT­­
The No. 15 Jackets will go for their second straight ACC sweep tomorrow against California. First pitch is set for 12:30 p.m. at Mac Nease Baseball Park. Tech is expected to start Caden Spivey (2-0, 2.75 ERA) for the second straight Sunday, up against Cal’s Oliver de la Torre (2-2, 5.32 ERA). 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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