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The Jackets Power Past KSU, 10-7

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KENNESAW, Ga. – No. 3 Georgia Tech reversed its trend of come-from-behind wins by scoring five runs in the first inning and maintaining that lead through the end of the game, defeating Kennesaw State by a final score of 10-7 on Tuesday night from Mickey Dunn Stadium at Henssler Financial Field. The Yellow Jackets (37-7, 19-5 ACC) set the tone from the start, scoring three runs before recording their second out and holding off the Owls (19-22, 8-13 CUSA) to secure the best 44-game start in program history.

All 10 Jackets who had a plate appearance reached base at least once, beginning with six of the first eight batters recording hits in the first inning, leading to a 5-0 lead right off the bat. The Owls managed to cut the lead to 5-4, before a three-run home run from Drew Burress put the Jackets ahead, 8-4. Kennesaw managed to score two more before Vahn Lackey’s second double of the game drove in a run and Caleb Daniel worked a bases loaded walk as the Jackets delivered their 25th double-digit scoring game of the season, eventually winning, 10-7.

Seven different hitters recorded multi-hit days, led by three apiece from Burress, Lackey and Carson Kerce. On the mound, Justin Shadek had a bounce-back performance, pitching 3.0 innings (innings six, seven and eight) with only one hit allowed and six strikeouts, one shy of his career high. With the lead at 10-7 headed into the ninth inning, the Jackets turned to Mason Patel who retired the side on 16 pitches to record his sixth save of the season.

QUICK HITS: TEAM

  • The Jackets improve to 37-7, the best 44-game record in program history.
  • GT has won 15 straight games in the state of Georgia.
  • James Ramsey owns the best record by any GT head coach through 44 games (37-7).
  • Tech improves to 20-1 in night games this season (games started at 6 pm or later).
  • The Jackets are 7-1 against in-state opponents this season, scoring an average of 11.88 runs per game and winning by a combined score of 95-35.
  • GT delivered its 25th double-digit scoring game of the season tonight. Tech has scored 10 or more in 56.8% of its games this season.
  • Tech has scored 467 runs through their first 44 games. It’s the most runs Georgia Tech has recorded after 44 games in the program’s 131-year history and the most runs any Power 4 team has scored through 44 games in the BBCOR era (since 2011).
  • GT’s 467 runs are already the 4th highest total for a single season in the program’s BBCOR era (since 2011).
  • GT is outscoring its opponents 467-210, that +258 margin is the highest through 44 games in program history.
  • Tech’s offense is currently on pace to set program records in batting average (.356 – record is .347), on-base percentage (.469 – record is .434), slugging percentage (.618 – record is .575) and runs-per-game (10.6 – record is 10.3).
  • The Jackets recorded 17 hits tonight, marking the 12th game with at least 15 base hits this season (27.3 % of all games)
  • Tech sweeps the season series with Kennesaw State and leads the all-time series 30-10.
  • The Jackets have won six games in a row and 19 of their last 21 games dating back to March 22.
  • They will return to Mac Nease Baseball Park at Russ Chandler Stadium this weekend, where they are on a 13-game home winning streak, the second longest active home winning streak in the nation.

  QUICK HITS: THE BATS

  • Junior Drew Burress set a new career best by recording his sixth straight multi-hit game, going 3-for-6 with a three-run HR, a double and a single, finishing a triple shy of the cycle. He extends his hit streak to seven games, while his six-game multi-hit streak is the longest of his career.
  • The reigning ACC Player of the Week has been on a tear in the last month (since March 28), leading the team in batting average (.481), runs (32), hits (39), doubles (7 – tied with Kerce), triples (2 – tied with Advincula), extra-base hits (13), slugging (.765) and on-base percentage (.553) over the last 19 games. Even more impressive is the fact that 10 of the 19 games in that stretch have come against teams ranked in the Top 15.
  • He hit his ninth HR of the season in the fourth inning, it was his 53rd career home run, the 4th most in program history. He is now two homers away from tying Tony Plagman (2007-10) for the third-most and four away from Jason Varitek’s record (57), set back in 1994.
  • He has scored 61 runs this season, the most on the team and the most in the ACC. Burress has scored 211 runs over his career, the 10th most in program history and two away from Tony Plagman (2007-10) for ninth.
  • Burress has now delivered 66 hits this season, the second most on the team behind only Advincula.
  • This was his 22nd multi-hit game of the season, tied for the second most on the team, behind Advincula’s 27.
  • He has produced 41 RBI, bringing his career tally to 170, just one away from cracking into the program’s Top 20 leaderboard.

  • Junior Jarren Advincula extended his hitting streak to a team-best 12 games, going 2-for-5 with a walk and two singles.
  • He now leads Division I with 79 hits this season, averaging 1.80 hits per game and putting him on pace to be the first 100-hit player at GT since 2005 (Wes Hodges & Tyler Greene).
  • He is two hits away from matching his career high, set over 55 games last season at Cal. His 229 base hits are the 19th most among active NCAA players and the third most among non-seniors.
  • Georgia Tech is 6-0 since Carson Kerce was moved into the leadoff spot prior to last Sunday’s game at No. 3 North Carolina.
  • Kerce delivered his 21st multi-hit game of the season and his team-leading ninth three-hit game, going 3-for-6 with a double and a pair of singles.
  • He hit his 23rd double of the season, the most among Power 4 players and tying the Georgia Tech BBCOR era record for doubles in a single season (tied with Jacob Esch (2011) and Drew Burress (2025)).
  • He is hitting doubles at a 0.52 per-game clip, putting him on pace for 28 by the end of the regular season. The current program record for doubles in a single season is 27, set by Jay Payton in 1994.
  • He is now in a six-way tie for the 7th most doubles in a single season ever hit by a GT player, along with such legends as Jason Varitek (1994), Mark Fischer (1996), Jeff Kindel (2005), Jacob Esch (2011) and Drew Burress (2025).
  • Kerce’s 28 extra-base hits are tied with Ryan Zuckerman for the most on the team.

  • Junior Vahn Lackey secured his first-career 50 RBI season when he drove in Kerce in the first inning. He would add on another RBI with a double in the sixth, giving him 51 RBI this year, nine more than his previous career high (42) set last season.
  • He produced his 17th multi-hit game of the season and his 7th three-hit day, going 3-for-5 with two doubles, two RBI and two runs scored.
  • This was his first career multi-double game, as he brings his season total to 12, two shy of the 14 he hit last season. He has hit 26 extra-base hits this year, one shy of the total XBHs from his freshman and sophomore years combined.
  • Sophomore Will Baker produced his 15th multi-hit game of the year, going 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI off a double in the first inning.
  • He has hit 18 doubles this season, the second most on the team and the second most in the ACC behind only Kerce.
  • He has hit 27 extra-base hits this season, tied with Burress for the second most on the team and a large jump from the 11 XBHs of his freshman season.
  • Junior Kent Schmidt produced his 8th multi-hit game of the season and second in as many games, going 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored.
  • He has driven in 38 RBI this season, putting him two away from his third-straight 40 RBI campaign in college.

QUICK HITS: THE ARMS

  • R-junior Carson Ballard made his second consecutive midweek start, securing Tech’s first scoreless first inning in its last 10 games, before handing the ball off for the rest of the way.
  • Ballard has now thrown 23.0 innings this season with a 3.91 ERA.
  • The Jackets have won both games he started this season and are 7-2 when he starts over his career.
  • Senior Caden Spivey made his 12th bullpen appearance of the season with two outs in the third inning after the Owls had cut the lead to just one run, 5-4. He would get Tech out of the inning, pitching a total of 2.1 innings with two earned runs, coming off a two-run homer. He lowers his ERA to 8.16 this season in 14.1 innings of work.
  • He would get credit for the win, his first of the season and third as a Yellow Jacket, bringing his GT record to 3-1 and his collegiate record to 9-3.
  • R-sophomore Justin Shadek bounced back from a difficult weekend with 3.0 electric innings out of the bullpen tonight. It was his 13 appearance of the season and his 11th out of the bullpen.
  • He struck out six batters, one shy of his season high, recording six of his nine outs via punchout.
  • Shadek would allow an earned run off a solo home run but that would be the only batter he allowed to reach base over his three innings of work.

  • With a three-run lead headed into the ninth, Tech was faced with a save opportunity, so naturally, Mason Patel emerged from the bullpen for his eighth bullpen appearance of the season.
  • He would face four batters, securing two flyouts and making a very athletic snag while allowing a two-out single.

  • Since recovering from an injury that saw him miss 20 days, Patel has made eight appearances out of the bullpen, pitching 17.2 innings with only one earned run allowed, collecting a victory and six saves.
  • Over the last two seasons, Patel has made 31 bullpen appearances, posting 12 wins and 11 saves.
  • He is the first Yellow Jacket to produce back-to-back five save seasons (5 in 2025, 6 in 2026) since Matt Wieters in 2006 & 2005.
  • His six saves this season put him in a tie for the 24th most in a single season in program history, while his 11 career saves tie him with Brad Rulon (2005-08) for the 13th most in GT history.

Up Next

The Jackets get a break from ACC play this weekend when they welcome Xavier (21-25, 10-5 Big East) for a three-game series at Mac Nease Baseball Park at Russ Chandler Stadium. The series will run Friday-Sunday (May 1-3) with game one scheduled for May 1 at 7 pm on ACCNX.

 

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 X (@GTBaseball), Facebook, Instagram (@gt_baseball) or visit us at www.ramblinwreck.com.

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