Georgia Tech beats Duke to claim ACC regular season championship

DURHAM, N.C. — Georgia Tech left no doubt in Saturday’s regular season finale, pounding out 14 hits and riding dominant pitching to an 8-2 win over No. 20 Duke at Jack Coombs Field — a victory that secured the Yellow Jackets’ first ACC regular season championship since 2011.

Senior outfielder Drew Burress led the charge with a monster performance, going 4-for-4 with a home run, two doubles, and two RBIs. His leadoff homer in the eighth and another RBI double earlier in the game capped a standout day that boosted his season RBI total to 59.

“I was just trying to stay within myself and get us going early,” Burress said. “We’ve worked hard all year for this moment.”

The Yellow Jackets (39-16, 19-11 ACC) wasted no time setting the tone. After Burress was hit by a pitch to open the game and advanced on a passed ball, Kristian Schmidt knocked him in with a single to left to give Tech a quick 1-0 lead.

Duke (37-17, 17-13 ACC) tied the game in the second, but the Jackets responded in the fourth. Camron Kerce drove in two runs with a double to left-center, and Georgia Tech added a run in the fifth and another in the sixth to stretch the lead to 5-2.

Burress’s eighth-inning homer made it 6-2, and Adonys Hernandez sealed the deal in the ninth with a two-run blast to right, his 14th of the season.

On the mound, starter Ben Jones (7-2) earned the win, throwing five innings and allowing just two runs while striking out three. Reliever Jayden Paden was lights-out, tossing four scoreless innings, striking out three and earning his second save.

Georgia Tech’s offense saw production throughout the lineup — six players had at least one hit, and five recorded RBIs, including Schmidt, Kerce, Hernandez, Burress, and Kristian Lodise.

The win caps a late-season surge for the Yellow Jackets, who clinched the regular season title in one of the nation’s toughest baseball conferences.

“This is what we’ve been building toward all year,” said head coach Danny Hall. “Winning the ACC regular season championship is a huge accomplishment, especially against a team as good as Duke.”

Georgia Tech will now turn its attention to the ACC Tournament, where it enters as the No. 1 seed with momentum and confidence.