No. 19 Jackets Split Doubleheader vs. No. 3 Clemson

THE FLAST – No. 19/25 Georgia Tech baseball (22-6, 8-4 ACC) split its doubleheader with No. 3/6 Clemson (26-5, 6-3 ACC) in front of a sold-out crowd at Mac Nease Baseball Park at Russ Chandler Stadium. The Yellow Jackets dominated in game one, winning 18-2 in seven innings before coming up just short in the series finale, 4-3, allowing two runs in the top of the ninth to drop their first ACC series of the season.

The first game of the day featured six Jacket home runs, including four in a 10-run fourth inning as Tech dominated from start to finish behind a 6-RBI, two HR performance from Kyle Lodise and long balls from Alex Hernandez (9^th), John Giesler (1^st), Parker Brosius (1) and the first-career homer from Connor Shouse. The 16-run margin of victory in game one was the largest against Clemson since a 22-4 beat down on April 16, 2006.

In the second game, Clemson got out to a 2-1 lead after the first two innings, holding that score line with quality pitching from Jaylen Paden and Caden Spivey until the eighth inning, when Drew Burress put the Jackets in front with a two-run home run. That lead wouldn’t last, as the Tigers found two unearned runs in the top of the ninth to spoil the night and hand GT its first series loss of conference play.

QUICK HITS: THE TEAM

• Tech is now 22-6 for the season. It’s best start in 14 seasons (since 2011).
• The Jackets have won eight of their first 12 ACC games, the best start to a conference season since 2013.
• Tech’s 10-runs in the fourth inning of game one are the most in a single inning of an ACC game since hanging 12 runs on Duke back on May 18, 2018.
• The Jackets have now hit six home runs in a game against Clemson in back-to-back series after doing so in the comeback win at Clemson last season.
• Clemson leads the all-time series, 123-119-3 following today’s result.
• The Jackets posted five doubles over both games, becoming the first team in the nation to eclipse 80 doubles, with the current tally sitting at 84 – the most doubles hit by a Tech team through 28 games since at least the turn of the century.
• Tech is the only program in the nation to have four batters with 11 or more doubles: Drew Burress (16), Kyle Lodise (14), Carson Kerce (12) and Kent Schmidt (11). This was the sixth and seventh-straight games that Schmidt has missed due to illness.
• Georgia Tech is averaging 3.00 doubles per game this season (84 in 28 games) – the program record for doubles/game is 2.51, set in the 1987 season.
• Tech pitching struck out 18 Clemson batters in the second game of the day, the most in an ACC game in four seasons – since striking out 18 at NC State (Feb. 27, 2021).
• Tech pitching has struck out 291 batters this season while only walking 115 for a K/BB ratio of 2.53 – the best through 28 games since 2019.

QUICK HITS: THE BATS

• Junior shortstop Kyle Lodise extended his career-best on-base streak to 41 games, dating back to his time at Augusta University.
• His MLB draft stock continues to rise as he finished the day with two home runs, both in game one, to finish with three dingers in the series. Over 12 ACC games this season, Lodise has hit eight home runs and is slugging 1.000.
• He has hit a team-high 12 home runs this season while also reaching base at a .596 clip when leading off an inning (28-of-47).
• His six RBI in the opening game tied Alex Hernandez for the most in a game by a Yellow Jacket this season.
• Sophomore Drew Burress hit three doubles and a home run today, giving him 16 2Bs and nine homers on the season.
• It was his 34^th career HR, passing Mark Fowler (1986-87) and Rick Lockwood (1980-83) on the all-time home run leaderboard as he creeps closer to the Top 20 in program history (36).
• He recorded three RBI, with his go-ahead HR in the second game serving as his 100^th and 101^st career RBI.
• Burress led the team with a .545 average this series (6-for-11) with an OPS of 1.706.

𝐁𝐔𝐑𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐁𝐎𝐌𝐁!!!!💣💣💣💣

THERE GO THOSE #CardiacJackets!!!

108 off the bat / 417 ft. down the line / 28 degrees. BOOM.

ACCNX – https://t.co/Mm50TG4az1#StingEm🐝 x #WreckHavoc pic.twitter.com/sQWWfyDMXg

— Georgia Tech Baseball (@GTBaseball) March 30, 2025

• Freshman Alex Hernandez added to his RBI total with a solo HR fly in the 10-run 4^th It was his 39^th RBI of the year and 9^th HR – the most among Division I freshmen.
• Over his last 10 games, Hernandez has hit four home runs and a triple for 18 RBI and 15 runs scored while drawing 12 walks. The Cumming, Ga. native has reached base in 26 of 28 games in college.
• Senior John Giesler launched his first home run of the season in the 10-run 4^th inning of the first game, his 20^th home run in White & Gold.
• Sophomore Carson Kerce extended his career-long on-base streak to 19 games today, adding his 12^th double of the year – more than twice his output from his freshman season (5).
• Kerce is second on the team with 13 RBI in ACC play, three shy of his ACC season total from last year despite playing in just over a third of the games (16 RBI in 29 ACC games).
• Sophomore Vahn Lackey saw his career-best on-base streak snapped at 32 games, dating back to last season.

QUICK HITS: THE ARMS

• Junior Brady Jones delivered his best start as a Yellow Jacket, pitching 5.0 innings of game one without allowing an earned run and striking out six.
• He would exit the game with a 13-1 lead, earning his third victory of the season to improve to 3-0.
• Freshman Connor Chicoli pitched the final inning of the mercy-rule win, just his second appearance out of the bullpen this year after starting three midweek games to begin the season.
• He retired all three Clemson batters he faced for his first scoreless outing in ACC play.
• Senior Jaylen Paden was simply superb in game two, entering the game with a 2-1 deficit to start the third and pitching 4.0 innings with eight strikeouts and only one hit allowed.
• The 4.0 innings and eight strikeouts are both season highs, keeping the game at 2-1 into the late innings to give Tech a chance.
• Junior Caden Spivey maintained his perfect 0.00 ERA out of the bullpen, pitching the 7^th and 8^th innings of game two, 2.0 innings with one hit and one walk while striking out three. He was in line for the win before Clemson scratched two runs across in the top of the ninth.
• He has now pitched 6.0 innings of ACC play with only three hits allowed and nine strikeouts without allowing a run of any kind.
• R-Sophomore Carson Ballard got the final two outs of the game via strikeout. The only hit he allowed was a comebacker that glanced off his glove, trickling through the infield and allowing an inherited runner to score. Truly tough luck for an otherwise incredibly strong outing.

UP NEXT­­
The No. 19/25 Jackets return to action on Tuesday, April 1^st for an 8 p.m. first pitch against in-state rival Mercer. The game will be broadcast nationally on ACC Network.

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.

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