No. 2/5 GEORGIA TECH YELLOW JACKETS at GEORGIA SOUTHERN EAGLES
FEB 17, 2026 • 6 PM
Statesboro, Ga. (J.I. Clements Stadium)
Probable Starting Pitchers
Tuesday – GT – LHP Dylan Loy (0-0) vs. GS – RHP Will Holder (0-1)
Tuesday – 6 PM
TV: ESPN+ | Watch Live
Radio: GT Gameday App
Play-by-Play: Colin Lacy
Live Stats
SERIES STATS: GT vs Georgia Southern
Overall: GT leads, 111-32
at GS: GT leads, 49-16
GAMEDAY CENTRAL
Game Notes | Gameday Rosters
TOP STORYLINES
- Georgia Tech entered 2026 with its highest expectations in decades. A preseason consensus Top-5 team for the first time since 2003, the reigning 2025 ACC Regular Season Champion Yellow Jackets are out for more hardware in 2026.
- Georgia Tech was named 2026 Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball preseason favorites by the league’s 16 head coaches for the first time since 2004.
- The Yellow Jackets were the highest ranked team in the ACC across four different national preseason polls: No. 2 (Perfect Game), No. 4 (Baseball America), No. 4 (USA Today Coaches Poll) and No. 5 (D1 Baseball). The No. 2 preseason ranking is the fourth highest in program history and the highest since 2003, 2001 and 1994 when the Jackets were preseason No. 1. – all four of those rankings held firm after opening weekend.
- The Jackets boast three preseason 1st Team All-Americans, the most from any GT team since the turn of the century, CF Drew Burress, C Vahn Lackey and RHP Mason Patel. GT is tied for the most preseason All-Americans in the nation (five), also 2B Jarren Advincula and UTL Alex Hernandez.
- For the first time since 1994, Georgia Tech is under new leadership as James Ramsey became the 13th head coach in program history, following the retirement of the ninth winningest coach in NCAA history, the Hall of Famer, Danny Hall.
- Ramsey has been an assistant coach on staff for the past seven seasons. Since Ramsey took over coaching the offense (2019-2025), GT led the ACC in average (.308), OPS (.918), OBP (.408), hits (3,961), doubles (796) and SAC Flies (208) and is second in runs (2,937), triples (84), HR (547), RBI (2,709) and slug. (.510)
- GT leads the nation with three players listed on the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Watch List: CF Drew Burress, C Vahn Lackey and 2B Jarren Advincula
- The Jackets are expected to own one of, if not the best offense in the nation, this season, as they return eight of the nine batters that started in Game 1 of the 2025 Oxford Regional, while adding in two of the best bats in the ACC from last season, in Jarren Advincula (California) and Ryan Zuckerman (Pittsburgh).
- On the pitching side, Tech returns 60% of innings pitched from last year including Friday night starter Tate McKee and National Stopper of the Year Finalist and All-American Mason Patel. Tech also added in 2024 National Champion Dylan Loy (Tennessee) and weekend starter Justin Shadek (Rutgers) from the portal as well as three very talented freshmen: Cooper Underwood, Charlie Willcox and Jamie Vicens.
- Georgia Tech had 12 players ranked in D1 Baseball’s preseason position rankings including being the only team in the nation with six position players listed in among the top 15 and eight position players in the top 50 of their respective position groups.
- On opening weekend, the offense lived up to the billing going off for 50 runs over a three game sweep of Bowling Green – the most over an opening weekend three-game series in program history.
- It was the most runs scored through the first three games of a regular season since Tech scored 77 runs in the first three games of the 1975 season, which included a 41-0 victory over Earlham College, still the Division I record for largest margin of victory.
- Tech scored 27 runs in the second game, tied for the most runs scored by GT in a single game since 1994 – Danny Hall’s first year with Georgia Tech, and the year the Yellow Jackets finished runners-up at the College World Series.
- The Jackets have now scored double-digit runs in each of their first three games of the season for the first time since 2006, the last time Georgia Tech made it to the College World Series.
- Through just three games, the Yellow Jackets lead the nation in batting average (.464) and OBP (.596) and a Top 5 in doubles (#3 – 13), hits (#4 – 51), OPS (#4 – 1.260), scoring (#5 – 16.7) and walks (#5 – 31).
- Will Baker is tied for the Power 4 lead with a .778 batting average, second highest in the nation, and his .857 OBP is the fourth highest mark in the country, No. 2 in Power 4. He has succesfully reached base in each of his last 11 plate appearances and 12-of-14 for the season.
- Alex Hernandez, who set the Georgia Tech freshman RBI record last season (69) leads the team with eight RBI so far this season and keeps himself on pace to become the fastest Yellow Jacket ever to reach 100 career RBI. He has recorded 77 RBI in just 62 games (1.24 RBI per game). He leads the ACC with those eight RBI, averaging 2.67 per game so far – the 17th best rate in the nation.
- Dylan Loy will make his first start in White & Gold at Georgia Southern, it will be his seventh career start, having started six games at Tennessee before transfering into the program.
- GT will take on Ga. Southern for the first road test of the 2026 season, Tech leads the all-time series 111-32 and have won the last seven meetings dating back to 2022.
