THE FLATS – Junior Vahn Lackey (Suwanee, Ga. / Collins Hill HS) earned his second ACC Player of the Week honor while junior Tate McKee (Kennesaw, Ga. / Mount Paran Christian) collected his first-career ACC Pitcher of the Week, the Atlantic Coast Conference office announced today. Lackey and McKee both produced some of their best outings of the season to help Georgia Tech secure back-to-back ACC Regular Season Championships and the most lopsided sweep over a Top 25 opponent in program history (39-3 at No. 23 Boston College).
The Yellow Jackets become the only team in the ACC to sweep the weekly awards this season, finishing tied for the most ACC Player of the Week awards (four) while collecting their first Pitcher of the Week honor of the year. Lackey becomes the only two-time ACC player of the week this season, having also earned the honor on March 16 following his historic game vs. West Geogia in which he played eight defensive positions and finished a single shy of the cycle. The Yellow Jackets are tied with Florida State for the most ACC weekly awards this season (five) with McKee becoming the fourth player on the team to earn the honor, tied with Florida State and Miami for the most in the conference.
McKee produced the best start of his Georgia Tech career and one of the best in program history on Thursday night at Boston College. After enduring a two hour weather delay that saw the game begin at 8:03 pm, McKee took the mound and produced 7.0 scoreless innings with just one hit allowed and a career high 14 strikeouts. He only allowed three baserunners all evening, striking out the side in the 1st, 3rd and 6th innings. His 14 strikeouts were the most in an ACC game by a GT pitcher since 2018 (Connor Thomas – 17) as he helped Tech to the first one-hit shutout over nine innings since at least the turn of the century and ACC win No. 23.
McKee becomes the first GT pitcher to deliver back-to-back eight-win seasons since Buck Farmer in 2012 & ’13. He finishes his third regular season on The Flats with an 8-1 record in 14 starts with a career-best 4.10 ERA and a career-best 84 strikeouts. He is 16 strikeouts shy of becoming Tech’s first pitcher with 100 Ks in a single season since Connor Thomas in 2019.
This is his first-career ACC pitcher of the week, becoming Tech’s first hurler to claim the award since Brady Jones, last season.
Lackey was simply spectacular throughout his final four regular season games, posting a .667 avg / .714 OBP / .1.400 slug slash line for a 2.114 OPS. He went 10-for-15 at the dish with three doubles, a triple and two home runs, recording 12 RBI and 10 runs while drawing three walks, two HBPs and an intentional walk with two solen bases with a perfect 1.000 fielding pct.
He recorded multiple hits, at least one extra-base hit and multiple RBI in all four games this week. It began with a four-RBI performance on Tuesday vs Mercer, followed by a three RBI showing in the series opener at No. 23 BC featuring his first home run of the week. He went 3-for-4 with a double, two RBI and three runs scored in game two of the series, helping Georgia Tech clinch back-to-back ACC regular season titles, before finishing the week with his best game, extending his hitting streak to a career best 11 games by going 2-for-2 with a home run, a triple and two hit-by-pitches, leading the team in runs scored (four) and RBI (three) while stealing two bases.
This is his second ACC Player of the Week award of the season, becoming the only player in the conference to win the award twice.
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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