CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Drew Burress hit the Georgia Tech-record 58th home run of his career and drove in three runs to lead the Yellow Jackets to their 10th all-time Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Tournament championship with a 13-6 victory over North Carolina on Sunday afternoon at Truist Park.
With the triumph, top-seeded and No. 2-ranked Georgia Tech became the first ACC team since 2013 to follow up an outright regular-season championship with the conference’s tournament title. By avenging their only series loss of the season to second-seeded and No. 3-ranked North Carolina, the Yellow Jackets also made a strong case to be the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament when the field is announced on Monday.
Georgia Tech (48-9) scored five runs in the third inning of Sunday’s ACC title game to break a 1-1 tie and never trailed the rest of the way. North Carolina (45-11-1) scored the game’s next four runs to pull within one in the fifth inning at 6-5, but the Yellow Jackets plated two runs in the sixth, three in the seventh and two in the eighth to cement the championship.
Burress’s two-run homer in the third inning not only gave the Jackets the lead for good, but broke the school record of 57 that was held by Georgia Tech and Boston Red Sox legend Jason Varitek since 1994. Making Burress’s feat even more impressive is that it took him less than three seasons to break the mark that Varitek set in four campaigns (1991-94).
Alex Hernandez went 3-for-4 with four RBI and ACC Tournament Most Valuable Player Ryan Zuckerman hit his team-leading 23rd home run of the season to join Burress in fueling Georgia Tech’s 13-run, 14-hit offensive performance.
Caden Gaudette, Justin Shadek, Cooper Underwood and Mason Patel combined to hold North Carolina to just an unearned run on two hits over the final five innings of the ballgame. Gaudette (6-1) tossed a scoreless frame to earn the win, while Patel slammed the door after coming in with two runners on and nobody out in the ninth. A 5-3 double play from Zuckerman to first baseman Kent Schmidt ended the game, setting off a raucous celebration 12 years in the making since the Jackets’ last ACC Tournament title in 2014.
Georgia Tech now turns its focus to hosting an NCAA Tournament regional next weekend at Mac Nease Park at Russ Chandler Stadium. The Yellow Jackets will learn their regional opponents on Monday during the NCAA Baseball Tournament selection show, which airs live on ESPN2 at noon.
QUICK HITS: TEAM
- The Jackets won their 10th ACC Tournament title and first since 2014.
- Georgia Tech becomes just the second program with double-digit ACC Tournament championships, along with Clemson (11).
- Georgia Tech is tied with Florida State for the most ACC Tournament titles since the turn of the century (6).
- The Yellow Jackets become the first ACC program to win both the regular season and tournament titles in 13 years (North Carolina in 2013).
- This is the 14th time in conference history a team has won both titles, including four times by GT (2005, 2000, 1987 and now 2026). Each of the last three ACC teams to sweep both championships have gone on to the College World Series (North Carolina, 2013 / Miami, 2008 / Clemson, 2006).
- Head coach James Ramsey is only the second coach in ACC history to win both the regular season and tournament championships in his first season in the conference (Jack Leggett at Clemson 1994) and the first ACC coach to ever do so in his first season as a head coach.
- The Jackets improve to 48-9, the best 57-game record in program history, three games better than the previous record (45-12 – 1993).
- The Yellow Jackets have reached 48 wins for only the sixth time in program history, along with 2010, 2006, 2002, 2000, 1994, 1993 and 1987.
- Tech has won last 13 games against ACC opponents, with the last eight victories coming by a combined score of 110-25.
- Tech has scored 616 runs this season, which are the most runs scored through 57 games in program history and the most scored by any Power 4 team through 57 games in the BBCOR era.
- GT’s 616 runs are the third-most in school history, behind only 1994 (634) and 1987 (program record – 662).
- The Jackets hit two home runs today, bringing their season total of 125 – extending the program record they broke in Saturday’s ACC semifinal win over Miami (Fla.).
- GT is outscoring its opponents 616-274 this season. The plus-335 margin is the largest in program history.
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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