Walk-Off Grand Slam from Burress Punctuates Comeback Win

THE FLATS – Drew Burress launched an opposite field grand slam walk-off to cap off a nine-run bottom of the ninth as Georgia Tech baseball (2-0) came roaring back to defeat Old Dominion (0-2), 7-3 on Saturday afternoon inside Mac Nease Baseball Park at Russ Chandler Stadium. The Georgia Tech bullpen threw 9.0 innings of scoreless baseball, striking out 16 and surrendering only three hits to allow for the Jackets to stay within punching distance into the ninth, when all seven Tech hitters reached base safely, ending in the dramatic home run from Burress to send the Yellow Jacket faithful home happy.

After ODU scored three runs in the top of the first, Tech turned to the bullpen where the combination of sophomore Caden Gaudette (2.0 IP, 1 H, 5 Ks), junior Caden Spivey (3.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 5 Ks), senior Sam Swygert (1.2 IP, 1 BB, 2 Ks), junior Brett Barfield (0.1 IP, 1 BB), freshman Cooper McMullen (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 Ks) and freshman Cole Royer (1.0 IP, 2 Ks) held the Monarch bats at bey, allowing for Tech to come storming back in the bottom of the ninth for the second win of the 2025 season.

In the ninth inning, all seven Yellow Jackets that came to the plate came around to score. The inning began with a five-pitch walk drawn by senior Nathan Waugh before Vahn Lackey delivered his second hit of the game to put runners at first and second. Alex Hernandez drew a walk on four pitches to load the bases for sophomore Tyler Neises who connected on an 0-1 pitch, driving it into left field for a single and cutting the deficit to one run, 3-2. Will Baker reached on an error when his sacrifice bunt was mishandled by the ODU pitcher, loading the bases for junior shortstop Kyle Lodise who accepted his second walk of the day to bring home Hernandez from third and tie the game. The very next batter was Burress and he made no mistake, smashing a 1-0 pitch over the wall in right field for the walk-off grand slam.

DREW BURRESS!!!!!!!!!!

WALK OFF GRAND SLAM!! pic.twitter.com/w4cub94rLo

— Georgia Tech Baseball (@GTBaseball) February 15, 2025

QUICK HITS: THE TEAM

• Georgia Tech improves to 2-0 for the fourth consecutive season and the 20^th time under head coach Danny Hall.
• This was the first walk-off grand slam since Jackson Finley’s extra-inning grand slam in a 12-8 victory over Auburn on April 12, 2023.
• GT has hit a home run in five straight games dating back to last season.
• The Jacket pitchers struck out 16 batters today, the most in a single game since striking out 17 against Georgia State last season (Feb. 27, 2024)
• GT scored seven runs in the ninth inning, the most runs scored in a ninth inning in a decade – most since scoring eight in a win over FIU (Feb. 21, 2015).

QUICK HITS: THE BATS

• Sophomore Drew Burress connected for his first home run of the season and 26^th of his career. His grand slam gave him four RBI, his fifth game with at least four RBI in White & Gold.
• This was his first walk-off home run as a Yellow Jacket.
• Earlier in the inning, sophomore outfielder Tyler Neises drove home two with a single into left field, scoring Nathan Waugh and Vahn Lackey. It was just his eighth collegiate at bat and resulted in his first multi-RBI performance in college baseball.
• Lackey delivered his first multi-hit game of the season, securing a double and a single. He leads the team with three hits through two games.
• Junior Kyle Lodise posted his first Division I RBI when he drew a bases loaded walk to tie the score in the ninth. It was his team-leading third free pass of the young season.
• Senior DH Nathan Waugh extended his on-base streak to 44 games with a walk today. He reached base in all 38 games last season, playing for Cornell. Waugh has successfully reached base in every game he’s played in since April 29, 2023.

QUICK HITS: THE ARMS

• Sophomore RHP Caden Guadette was the first out of the bullpen, entering the game with two on and nobody out. He struck out all three batters he faced on his way to 2.0 innings pitched, five strikeouts and only one baserunner allowed.
• The five strikeouts are a new career best while his 2.0 innings pitched matches his career high, set on opening day last season against Radford.
• RHP Caden Spivey was next, making his Georgia Tech debut after transferring from Notre Dame and delivering 3.0 scoreless innings, allowing only two baserunners (one hit, one walk) and striking out a career-best five batters.
• It was the longest scoreless outing for Spivey since throwing 4.1 innings without allowing a run against Virginia his freshman season at Notre Dame (April 23, 2023).
• RHP Sam Swygert got the ball next, also making his GT debit after transferring from The Citadel. Swygert threw 1.2 innings with two strikeouts and has held opponents scoreless in six of his last eight appearances out of the bullpen dating back to last season.
• LHP Brett Barfield kept the ball rolling with his first appearance of the year, throwing 0.1 innings to get Tech out of the seventh.
• Freshman RHP Cooper McMullen made his college debut in the eighth, striking out two to work around a pair of baserunners.
• Freshman RHP Cole Royer finished the job in the ninth, needing only 14 pitches to retire the side in order, finishing the inning with his second strikeout.
• Royer gets credited with the win. His first as a Yellow Jacket and his first in college baseball.

UP NEXT­­
The Yellow Jackets look to get the opening weekend sweep over Old Dominion tomorrow at 1 p.m. from Mac Nease Baseball Park. Sophomore RHP Riley Stanford is slated to get his first career start. The game will be streamed 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.

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