Game 1
Day 1 of the James Ramsey era at Georgia Tech got off to a great start as the Yellow Jackets newest head coach secured the first win of his career at the helm. On top of the Jackets bringing home the win for coach Ramsey, Georgia Tech fans set an opening day attendance record at MacNease Park with 2,613 fans in attendance. Those fans did not go home disappointed as the entire roster delivered a well-rounded performance leading to an 11-5 victory.
Junior right-hander Tate McKee got the nod as the opening day starter for the second consecutive season. He followed up a strong finish to his 2025 campaign with another solid outing to open the season. He worked five innings, with a home run off the bat of Bowling Green’s Sam Seidel in the fourth inning being the only blemish on his final line. McKee faced 18 batter and threw 86 pitches, striking out six, while allowing just three hits and one walk. McKee is known for his wide pitch-mix but was primarily working off of his low-90s sinker and his two breaking balls both of which were sitting in the low-80s. He worked in a changeup as well but was filling the zone with the sinker and inducing whiffs with the breaking pitches. In his last three starts dating back to last year’s ACC tournament, McKee has only given up three runs across 18.1 IP (1.48 ERA) with 22 strikeouts (29.3 K%) to just four walks (5.3 BB%).
Following McKee, three different pitchers made their Georgia Tech debuts. Tennessee transfer, LHP Dylan Loy threw a scoreless sixth inning, giving up two base runners but struck out two. Freshman RHP Jamie Vincens made his college debut in the ninth to close the game. He walked two and gave up an unearned run while striking out two. Freshman RHP Charlie Wilcox also made his college debut but struggled, giving up two earned runs on five hits and two walks but struck out two across an inning and a third. Junior RHP Caden Gaudette faced one batter in which he struck out.
The Georgia Tech lineup is considered arguably the best in the country and it showed on Friday afternoon. Sophomore outfielder Caleb Daniel led the charge as he opened the scoring in the third inning on an inside-the-park home run that nearly got over the wall in center field. He followed that up with a home run in the fourth inning that did in fact leave the yard on a pitch at his ankles that he poked over the center field wall. His day was far from over as he added a double that was nearly his third home run and finished 3-4 on the day with six runs batted in.
Sophomore designated hitter Will Baker added a three-hit and multi-RBI game of his own, going 3-5 on the day with a double. Junior shortstop Carson Kerce had a two-hit game as well. Ironically enough, every starter but one recorded a hit, with Drew Burress being the only one without a hit. That goes to show just how dangerous this lineup can be as they managed to plate 11 runs without their best hitter getting on the board.
Game 2
As if 11 runs weren’t enough in the opener, the Jackets followed that up with 27 runs in the first game of the Saturday double-header. Bowling Green started the scoring with two runs in the second inning which was answered with a three-run home run off the bat of Alex Hernandez in the third. Those three runs wouldn’t be the last runs Hernandez would plate in the third inning as the Jackets went on to score 11 in the frame with Hernandez adding two more as the lineup turned over.
The scoring was far from over as they added five more in the fourth, six in the sixth, four in the seventh, and one more in the eighth. 14 different hitters recorded a hit, five of which recorded multiple hits. Vahn Lackey drove in three runs on three hits while Ryan Zuckerman added three hits of his own. Will Baker came up with two hits off the bench. Multiple hitters also recorded their first hits in their college careers as freshmen Michael Dee, Coleman Lewis, and Judson Hartwell all got on the board.
The pitching staff didn’t have to do much with the support from the offense but still showed up. Sixth year grad Mason Patel made his first start since 2024 when he was a member of Georgia State after working exclusively out of the bullpen for the Jackets in 2025. He worked in and out of traffic in his first few innings of work but managed to make it through five innings without much damage. He gave up two earned runs on five hits and two walks while striking out seven. Patel leaned heavily on his plus changeup but mixed in his low-90s fastball and flashed a sweeper as well. It was an effective outing for Patel and a good tune-up as he looks to secure that Saturday rotation spot ahead of conference play.
Patel was followed by sophomore LHP Adam McKelvey in the sixth and junior RHP Porter Buursema in the seventh. Both pitchers threw scoreless frames while recording all of their outs via strikeout. Redshirt freshman RHP Dimitri Angelakos made his college debut in the eighth, throwing the final two innings in which he gave up two earned runs on two hits while striking out three.
Game 3
Although it wasn’t 27 runs in the final game of the series, the run scoring certainly continued. The offense opened the scoring with one in the first inning, another in the second, and then four in the third before Bowling Green added two of their own in the fourth. That would be all Bowling Green would get though as the Jackets went on to add another six and win via run rule in the seventh inning by a score of 12-2.
Once again, there were a number of multi-hit performances throughout the lineup with six hitters recording at least two hits while only one went hit-less. As he did in the first game of the double-header, it was Alex Hernandez that led the way, going 4-4 with a walk and a double, finishing 7-8 on the day with seven runs batted in. Drew Burress logged his first multi-hit game of the season, going 2-5 with a double. Jarren Advincula, Vahn Lackey, Will Baker, and Carson Kerce also recorded multi-hit games. The Georgia Tech offense finishes off the weekend sweep with 50 total runs – not a typo.
It was the freshman left-hander Cooper Underwood that took the ball for the Jackets in game three of the series. Underwood was a 12th round pick to the Brewers a year ago, but chose to continue his education and amateur baseball career at Georgia Tech. He showed early why the Brewers selected him in the draft. He threw primarily his upper-80s fastball, low-80s slider, and high-70s curveball, all of which he was landing in the zone for strikes. He mixed in a low-80s changeup after he turned Bowling Green’s lineup over. The stuff isn’t eye-popping by any means, but this could be a fun arm to follow as he physically matures more. The kid knows how to pitch and has starter traits to him. The Bowling Green offense caught up to him in the fourth inning as they plated two runs where Underwood’s night would come to an end. He finished with 3.2 innings pitched, two earned runs, four hits, two walks, and four strikeouts.
The bullpen came through with 3.1 scoreless innings as seniors Caden Spivey and Kayden Campbell both made their season debuts while Rutgers transfer and redshirt sophomore Justin Shadek made his Georgia Tech debut. Combined, the three arms didn’t allow a single hit while they walked two and struck out four.
2026 couldn’t have gotten off to a better start for Georgia Tech. The Jackets will head down to Statesboro on Tuesday to take on Georgia Southern before they return home to Atlanta to take on Stony Brook for a four game weekend series. Subscribe below to follow along throughout the season!
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