No. 22 Tech Hangs 21 on Mercer in Run-Rule Win

THE FLATS – No. 22 Georgia Tech baseball (23-6, 8-4 ACC) proved why its one of the best offenses in the country on Tuesday night, powering past Mercer (19-11) by a score of 21-5 (7 innings). Nine different Yellow Jackets registered RBI and 11 came around to score as the Jackets improve to 7-0 in the midweek with the most runs scored against Mercer in series history (dating back to 1897).

Tech jumped in front, 8-0, after the first inning. An inning that featured two doubles, courtesy of Kyle Lodise and Caleb Daniel along with a bases clearing triple off the bat of Lodise in his second AB of the inning. The Jackets would score one run in each of the next four innings before striking for nine runs in the bottom of the sixth, extending the lead to 21-3, and eventually winning the game, 21-5. That sixth inning also featured two doubles, one from Parker Brosius and one from Will Baker along with a two-run homer from Drew Burress.

QUICK HITS: THE TEAM

• Tech is now 23-6 for the season. It’s best start in 14 years (since 2011).
• The Jackets scored 21 runs against Mercer, the most ever achieved against the in-state rival in series history – a 177 game series that dates back to 1897.
• In its last three games, Georgia Tech has had innings with 10 runs (vs. #3 Clemson), nine runs (6^th inning today) and 8 runs (1^st inning today).
• Georgia Tech leads the all-time series, 119-58 following today’s result.
• Tech is 6-0 against in-state opponents this season and have won 10-straight regular season games against programs from Georgia, dating back to last season.
• This was the eighth run-rule win of the season, one shy of last season’s total.
• The Jackets posted five doubles and continue to boast the most doubles in the nation this season, now with 89 – the most doubles hit by a Tech team through 29 games since at least the turn of the century.
• Georgia Tech is averaging 3.07 doubles per game this season (89 in 29 games) – the program record for doubles/game is 2.51, set in the 1987 season.
• Tech pitching struck out 7 Mercer bats today, bringing the season total to 298 while only walking 117 for a K/BB ratio of 2.55.
• The Jacket arms are striking out 10.95 per-nine-innings this season, the program record for a full season is 10.00 set back in 1998.

QUICK HITS: THE BATS

• Junior shortstop Kyle Lodise extended his career-best on-base streak to 42 games, going 2-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored.
• He recorded a double and a triple in the first inning, giving him multiple extra-base hits in two of his last three games and four of his last eight.
• His MLB draft stock continues to rise as he now had 10 hits, 14 RBI and 11 runs over his last five games and leads the team with 15 multi-hit games this season (29 games played).
• Freshman Will Baker enjoyed a career day at the dish, coming in as a pinch hitter for Lodise in the sixth inning and going 2-for-2 with an RBI single and a bases clearing 3-RBI double to finish with a career-best 4 RBI, the most on the team tonight.
• It was his second-career multi-RBI game after driving in two in the second game of the series at Notre Dame last month, giving him RBI in five of his last eight appearances.
• Both of his base knocks came against left-handed pitchers after entering the game 0-for-6 against lefties this season.
• Sophomore Drew Burress connected for his 35^th career home run and 10^th of the season. The homer made it a 15-3 ballgame and ties him with Eric McQueen (1996-99) and Matt Wieters (2005-07) for the 24^th most home runs in Georgia Tech baseball history. His next homer will put him in a seven-way tie for 18^th on the program leaderboard.
• Burress recorded three RBI to bring his season tally to 37, two shy of Alex Hernandez for the most on the team.
• The Houston County man extends his on-base streak to an absurd 47 games dating back to last season.
• Freshman Caleb Daniel laced a pair of doubles (his second multi-double game in his last four appearances) while coming around to score four times. He has now scored 18 runs over his last nine games.
• Daniel secured his first-career 4-for-4 night. It was his second four-hit performance after doing so in the series opener at Notre Dame (March 21).
• Junior Parker Brosius set a new career-high with four runs scored today. He went 2-for-3 with a double, a walk and a hit-by-pitch, coming around to score each time.
• Sophomore Vahn Lackey launched his second home run of the season and 6^th of his career, a solo shot in the fourth inning. It was his 37^th hit of the season, more than double his offensive output as a freshman last season (18 hits).
• Sophomore Carson Kerce extended his career-long on-base streak to 20 games, going 2-for-3 with two walks, two RBI and two runs scored.
• That brings his RBI total to 23 on the season, two-shy of his output from last year despite playing in 21 fewer games.
• Freshman Connor Shouse made his first start of the season, drawing a walk and getting hit by a pitch before coming around to score twice for his first-career multi-run day.
• Sophomore Nathanael Coupet came in as a pinch-hitter in the sixth, lacing a line drive base hit for his first-career hit and his first-career RBI.

QUICK HITS: THE ARMS

• Senior Sam Swygert made his second start of the season, pitching 3.0 innings, tied for his season long and allowing only one base runner off a single in the top of the first.
• Swygert struck out two and threw only 43 pitches to pick up his first victory in White & Gold after transferring in from The Citadel over the summer.
• Freshman Connor Chicoli came out of the bullpen for the fourth inning, needing only nine pitches to put up a zero while also recording his 8^th career strikeout.
• Chicoli has now delivered back-to-back scoreless innings out of the bullpen (also vs. Clemson on March 29 – Game 1) needing only nine pitches in each of those appearances.
• Junior Kayden Campbell was electric in the fifth inning, striking out the side on 17 pitches for his third straight scoreless appearance out of the pen. He lowers his ERA to 2.25 over 8.0 innings this year.
• Junior Brett Barfield threw four pitches before getting Tech out of the top of the sixth with a flyout. He has allowed only two earned runs over nine showings out of the bullpen.

UP NEXT­­
The No. 22 Jackets will travel across the country for an ACC series against Stanford (16-9, 5-7 ACC) this weekend. The series begins on Friday, April 4 and runs through Sunday, April 6 at 9 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. ET. All three games will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra and can be listened to on the GT Gameday App.

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.