DURHAM, N.C. – No. 1 seeded Georgia Tech (40-17, 19-11 ACC) dropped a 9-4 game to No. 5 seeded Clemson (44-15, 18-12 ACC) Saturday afternoon inside the Durham Bulls Athletic Park in the semifinals of the ACC Championships in Durham, N.C. The Yellow Jackets await their fate in the 2025 NCAA Tournament, with the selection show set to air on Monday, May 26 at noon on ESPN2.
The Jackets got out to a 3-0 led before a five-run 3rd inning from Clemson turned the game on its head. Tech managed to cut the deficit to 5-4, but costly baserunning and defensive mistakes allowed Clemson to extend its lead, eventually winning by five runs.
QUICK HITS: THE TEAM
- Tech has won 40 games for the 16th time under Head Coach Danny Hall and the 24th time in program history.
- Tech is now 40-17, the best record since 2019.
- Tech pitching struck out 12 batters today improving to 25 strikeouts over 18.0 innings of work this tournament – 12.5 K/9.
- It was the 11th double-digit K performance from the pitching staff this season against an ACC opponent.
- This was just the fifth game all season in which Tech did not record a double.
QUICK HITS: THE BATS
- Freshman Drew Rogers hit his sixth home run of the season in the second inning to make it a 3-0 ballgame, extending his on-base streak to six games in the process.
- It was his second home run in as many games, marking the second time this season he has hit homers in back-to-back games (three straight vs. Marshall, West Georgia and Western Michigan: Feb. 23-28).
- Tech freshmen have accounted for 36 HRs this season – led by 14 from Alex Hernandez – four more than last year’s total (32) which included a freshman record 25 off the bat of Burress.
- Sophomore Vahn Lackey leads all Power 4 catchers with 73 hits this season after hitting an RBI single in the first inning.
- He stands at 38 RBI for the season and has recorded at least one RBI in three of his last four games and four of his last seven.
- Sophomore Kyle Lodise recorded his 20th multi-hit game of the season, going 2-for-4.
- Sophomore Kent Schmidt extended his hitting streak to a team-high 11 games with a 2-for-4 game, bringing his season batting average back to .400
- Schmidt now has 22 multi-hit games in just 36 appearances with multiple ABs (61.1 percent of opportunities).
- The last Tech batter to hit .400 or better with a minimum of 100 ABs was current Tampa Bay Ray Chandler Simpson (.433 in 2022).
QUICK HITS: THE ARMS
- Junior Brady Jones made his 15th start of the year, pitching 3.0 innings and allowing five runs after an overturned call kept the third inning alive, leading to a grand slam for the Tigers.
- This was the first time Jones had not thrown at least 5.0 innings since March 22 at Notre Dame, over two months ago.
- Senior Mason Patel pitched 4.0 innings in relief, facing the minimum through 3.0 before being tagged for two runs (only one earned) in the seventh inning.
- Riley Stanford pitched the eighth inning, allowing a run while also recording a strikeout with a 97-mph fastball, one of the hardest-thrown pitches of the season by a Tech pitcher.
- Jaylen Paden saw his scoreless streak come to an end at 15.2 innings after he allowed a solo home run in the ninth inning. It was the second-longest scoreless streak of the season behind Patel’s 22.2 from earlier in the season.
UP NEXT
The Jackets await their postseason fate in the NCAA Tournament selection show, Monday at 12 p.m. ET on ESPN2
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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