Following a nail biting mid-week loss to the No. 11-ranked Auburn Tigers 9-8, Tech needed to bounce back in their weekend series against the University of California, Berkeley Golden Bears. The Golden Bears entered the series towards the bottom of the ACC (6-9) and just above .500 overall. Ultimately, Tech’s explosive offense, along with their timely pitching proved too much for Cal, and the Jackets swept the Bears back to Berkeley.
In the Friday night showdown, sophomore ace Tate McKee took the mound with a mission. McKee shut down Cal for the first four innings, allowing no runs to cross, meanwhile, the Tech bats quickly provided him with run support. In the bottom of the second, freshman third baseman Will Baker cranked a homer to right field to give the Jackets an opening 3-0 lead. The Jackets held the lead for the rest of the night. Tech piled on the scoring in the bottom of the fifth when freshman second baseman Alex Hernandez launched an opposite-field homer to right field. The six runs were enough for McKee, who pitched five and two-thirds, giving up two runs and striking out six.
Even when Cal pushed back, getting within one of the lead in the eighth inning, sophomore catcher Vahn Lackey harnessed his clutch gene by ripping a two RBI knock to dead center. Graduate relief pitcher and Tech bullpen ace Mason Patel then closed the game in the ninth to earn his second save of the season. McKee picked up his fifth win in the outing, improving his record to 5-0. On top of the home run in the fifth, Hernandez led the team with four hits and three RBIs. This win pushed the Jackets to 7-0 on the season following a loss, an extremely impressive statistic that proves the resilience and belief of this team.
If the bats were hot in the opening game, then in the Saturday afternoon matchup, the bats were scorching. It took zero time for Tech to jump out to an opening lead with Lackey launching a homer to right center to open the contest. Behind strong bats, junior starting pitcher Brady Jones gave head coach Danny Hall a lengthy outing consisting of six innings, four runs and seven strikeouts. Graduate first baseman John Giesler got in on the festivities, hitting a three-run home run to give Tech an 8-3 lead in the fifth inning. Giesler finished the game with five RBIs, tying his career high. Once again, Hernandez excelled, getting on base in all five of his plate appearances and going 3-3 with four runs scored. The Jackets ended up scoring 15 runs on 14 hits and 11 walks and run-ruled Cal in eight innings by a final score of 15-5.
The third and final game of the series proved to be the closest of them all. Tech started junior Caden Spivey for the second straight Sunday, and once again, he executed his job perfectly. Spivey pitched to contact and gave the Jackets five innings while only allowing one run to cross. Vying for the sweep, it appeared that the Jackets’ bats had cooled off a bit, but great performances from Lackey and especially sophomore center fielder Drew Burress made the difference in a tight 4-3 victory. Burress led the team with three hits, two runs scored, and he extended his consecutive on-base streak to 54 games dating back to last season. Similarly to Friday night’s game, Patel entered in the eighth inning and locked down the Bears’ hitters for the rest of the day to pick up his third save of the season. Patel remains the reliable late-inning reliever who Danny Hall trusts down the stretch.
Tech continues to battle with injuries, now with both sophomore first basemen Kent Schmidt and junior shortstop Kyle Lodise on the sidelines. Despite them being out, the team is still averaging over ten runs per game, and players like Lackey, Giesler and Hernandez have really stepped up to fill the production.
Following a 3-1 week and a sweep against Cal, Tech moved up in the D1Baseball.com rankings to 14, their highest ranking of the season to date. Also, Tech now leads the ACC with a 14-4 conference record that includes sweeps over Cal, Notre Dame, and Stanford. The Tech bats have shown zero signs of cooling down. Currently, the Jackets lead the nation in doubles and sit among the top three in both sacrifice flies and batting average.
On Tuesday night, Tech played in the Spring Classic at Truist Park, a one-game event against u[sic]GA, benefiting the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA). Junior pitcher Brett Barfield started the game for the Jackets and gave up a couple of early runs in the first. Then redshirt sophomore Carson Ballard came out of the bullpen and kept the game close. Baker hit a home run into the Chophouse in the top of the third inning and blooped an RBI single to left in the fourth. Right after tying the game up at two, the Bulldogs scored three runs in the bottom of the inning, and Tech’s bats went cold. Tech would go on to lose 5-2.
Despite the disappointing result, the Jackets remain focused on the ACC competition ahead. They travel to Coral Gables, FL this weekend and host the University of Virginia next weekend. Both are crucial series if they want the top crown of the ACC.
The goal of the 2025 baseball season remains clear. Win the ACC, host a regional, and get Goose and head coach Danny Hall to Omaha for the College World Series.