Tech Scores 11 Late Inning Runs to Advance to the Semifinals

CHARLOTTE – Top-seeded Georgia Tech (46-9, 25-5 ACC) scored seven runs in the bottom of the seventh inning and four more in the bottom of the eighth to erase a 5-9 deficit and advance past No. 8-seed Virginia (36-21, 14-16 ACC) by a final score of 16-10 on Thursday afternoon from Truist Field in Charlotte, N.C. Senior Parker Brosius launched a two-out grand slam in the seven-run seventh to put Tech in front, 11-9, before Carson Kerce, Vahn Lackey and Kent Schmidt added home runs of their own to advance into the semifinals of the ACC Tournament for the second season in a row.

𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐈𝐔𝐒!!!!!!!

POSTGRAD PARKER STRIKES AGAIN! THAT'S A GRAND SLAM! TECH LEADS!

📺 ACC Network #StingEm🐝 x #CardiacJackets pic.twitter.com/ZbWMIFXaEJ

— Georgia Tech Baseball (@GTBaseball) May 21, 2026

The Yellow Jackets hit six home runs on the day, two each from Kerce and Lackey along with the grand slam from Brosius and a two-run insurance homer from Schmidt. It was another total team effort for the Jackets offense as eight starters recorded hits, eight scored runs and all nine ended up on base at least twice. Tech matched its season high with six home runs in today’s game, bringing the season total to 120, just two shy of the program record, set in 2010.

On the mound, Tate McKee had the game under control, throwing three scoreless innings to start, but would have to be pulled from the game due to a cut on his finger. With the bullpen thrust into service earlier than expected, Virginia was able to capitalize, scoring runs in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings to erase a 4-2 GT lead and take over, 9-5. But seven runs in the seventh inning and four more in the eighth were more than enough to right the ship and as Justin Shadek took the mound for the ninth, he found himself in a non-save situation, despite his team being down four runs just 1.5 innings prior.

QUICK HITS: TEAM

• The Jackets improve to 46-9, the best 55-game record in program history, one game better than the previous record set back in 1993 (45-10).
• This is only the 10^th time in program history the Yellow Jackets have reached 46 wins, along with 2010, 2006, 2002, 2000, 1997, 1994, 1993, 1990 and 1987.
• The Jackets have reached the semifinals of the ACC tournament for the 21^st time in program history and the second year in a row.
• Tech has scored 594 runs this season. The most runs scored through 55 games in program history and the most scored by any Power 4 team through 55 games in the BBCOR era.
• GT’s 594 runs are a new program BBCOR era record and tied for the 4^th-most ever recorded in a single season at GT, tied with 2006.
• The Jackets are six runs away from delivering just the fourth 600 run season in program history and the first since 2000 (604) – also 1994 (634) and 1987 (program record – 662).
• The Jackets matched their season high with six home runs today, for a season total of 120 – the 2^nd most in program history. Tech is two homers away from the program record (122 – set in 2010).
• GT is outscoring its opponents 594-265, that +329 margin is the highest in program history.
• Tech’s offense is currently on pace to set program records in batting average (.358 – record is .347), on-base percentage (.470 – record is .434), slugging percentage (.635 – record is .575) and runs-per-game (10.8 – record is 10.3).
• This was the 32^nd game of the season in which Tech has scored double-digit runs (58.2 % of all games).
• It was the 10^th game with at least 15 runs scored, giving GT more games with 15+ runs (10) than five or fewer (nine) this season.
• The Jackets scored seven runs in the seventh inning, the 37^th inning with at least five runs scored (8.5% of all innings).
• Tech drove in seven two-out runs today, giving them 219 two-out RBI this season, 40% of all RBI for the year. Five of those seven two-out RBI game in the seven-run 7^th
• Tech has now won each of its last 11 games against ACC opponents and the last six by a combined score of 85-16.
• GT pitching struck out 11 batters, marking the 24^th game with at least 10 Ks this season.

QUICK HITS: THE BATS

• Senior Parker Brosius launched his second career grand slam in the seventh inning to put GT in front, 11-9. It was his ninth home run of the year and his sixth in the last eight games. He would go 1-for-4 on the day, tying his career high with five RBI.
• Brosius has been the hottest bat in the lineup in the eight games since he graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in Business Administration. Since earning his degree, he has matched his previous career total for home runs (six HR in first 170 games, six HR in his last eight games). He leads the team with his six HR over the last eight, posting a 1.620 OPS in that stretch and a team-best 19 RBI thanks to the first two grand slams of his career (today and vs. Duke on May 10).
• He has matched the longest hit streak of his career, securing a hit in each of his last six games.
• Junior Carson Kerce produced his first-career multi-homer day, going 3-for-5 with a solo shot in the third inning and a solo shot in the seventh, the second of back-to-back home runs with Brosius.
• He has now hit 10 home runs this season, his first career double-digit homer season after hitting a combined six in his freshman and sophomore seasons.
• He leads the team with 41 extra base hits this season (a program record 28 doubles, three triples and 10 HRs).
• He drove in four RBI, one shy of his career high and the 7^th four RBI game he has produced as a Yellow Jacket.
• This was his 13^th game with at least three hits this year, the most on the team.
• Junior Vahn Lackey extended his hitting streak to a career best 12 games, going 2-for-4 with two home runs, three runs scored and three RBI.
• This was his second multi-HR game of the season after also doing so against Stony Brook back on Feb. 20.
• He has now hit 17 home runs this year after producing a combined total of 10 over his freshman and sophomore campaigns.
• His second home run of the day was also his 80^th hit of the season, a new career high.
• He takes over the team lead with 72 RBI this year, giving Tech two players with 70 RBI (also Ryan Zuckerman) for the first time since Tristin English (71) and Kyle McCann (70) in 2019.
• He has scored 75 runs this year, 16 more than his career total over his freshman and sophomore seasons.
• This was his 26^th multi-hit game of the season, his 24^th game with multiple runs scored and his 20^th game with multiple RBI
• Junior Kent Schmidt went 3-for-4 with a home run, a walk, three RBI and two runs scored. It was his sixth game of the season with at least three hits and his 12th game with multiple RBI.
• He launched his 7^th HR of the season in the eighth inning, a two-run shot, tying the career total he had from his first two seasons of college baseball (7).
• He led the team with 36 RBI in ACC play and now continues to lead the way with 39 RBI in 31 games vs. ACC opponents.
• Junior Jarren Advincula extended his hitting streak to a career best 23 games, tied for the 6^th longest in program history and tied for the longest since 2002.
• He has delivered 101 hits this season, tied with Riccardo Ingram (1987) for the 10^th most in a single season in program history and the most since 2005.
• He has gotten a hit in 38 of his last 39 games dating back to March 10 and 51 of 55 games this season.
• His batting average now stands at .437 for the season, the highest in Power 4 and the 2nd best in the nation and the 5th highest in program history. He has the highest batting average of any Tech player since 1979, when Doug Ibele went 52-for-112 (.464)
• Should the season end today, Advincula would have the highest batting average of any Yellow Jacket with at least 200 ABs – a record currently held by Jay Payton (.434) from back in 1994.
• Junior Drew Burress extended his on-base streak to 18 games with his 21^st double of the year.
• He has now hit 60 doubles over his Georgia Tech career, tied with Steven Blackwood (2003-06) for the 5^th most in program history and a new GT BBCOR era record.
• Burress now holds the GT BBCOR era records for the most runs (225), RBI (183), doubles (60), home runs (57) and total bases (488).

QUICK HITS: THE ARMS

• Junior Tate McKee made his 31st consecutive series/weekend opening start, the only pitcher in Division I to have started every series opener for the same team in each of the past two regular seasons.
• He would pitch 3.0+ innings before exiting the game with an injury in the top of the fourth. He struck out six batters with three hits and one earned run allowed.
• Tech improves to 25-6 in series openers started by McKee (.806 win %) and have won 16 of the last 18 series openers dating back to last season.
• He has now struck out 234 batters over his GT career, 14 away from cracking the all-time Top 20.
• Over his last three starts, McKee has struck out 26 while walking just three.
• He has delivered 76 strikeouts this season and is the first Tech pitcher to record back-to-back 70 strikeout seasons since Connor Thomas in 2018 & 2019.
• McKee brings his ERA down to 4.06 this season over 71.0 innings of work, the lowest ERA by any Tech pitcher with more than 70.0 innings since big-leaguer Brant Hurter in 2021.
• Senior Brett Barfield struck out three batters in his 21^st appearance of the season, entering the fifth inning after Virginia had tied the game.
• He brings his season total to 31 Ks, his first career 30 strikeout season.
• Mason Patel pitched 3.0 innings out of the bullpen. While he wasn’t his usual dominant self, he managed to keep the game in striking distance for the Tech offense and would get credited with the win, bringing his season record to 4-0.
• Over the last two seasons, Patel has made 34 bullpen appearances, posting a team-high 14 wins and 12 saves.
• R-sophomore Justin Shadek pitched a scoreless top of the ninth to secure the victory.
• It was his 17^th appearance of the season, his 15^th out of the bullpen, and his ninth without allowing an earned run.
• Shadek has now produced scoreless outings in each of his last four outings, posting a 0.00 ERA over 4.0 innings with seven strikeouts and just one walk in the month of May.

Up Next

The Jackets continue their quest for an ACC Tournament title with the semifinals on Saturday, May 23 at 1 pm against No. 5 seed Miami. The game will be broadcast live 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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