CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Drew Burress became Georgia Tech’s career leader in home runs, Alex Hernandez drove in four runs, and the Yellow Jackets defeated North Carolina 13-6 on Sunday to claim the ACC Baseball Championship for the 10th time.
The top-seeded and third-ranked Yellow Jackets won the tournament for the first time since 2014.
Burress led off the bottom of the third inning with his 58th career home run. The blast to left field set the tone for a five-run inning that also featured Hernandez’s three-run double.
North Carolina got two back in the fourth inning on a two-out single by Rom Kellis V and two more in the fifth on a home run by Owen Hull.
Things got wild in the sixth inning when North Carolina scored an unearned run in the top half and Georgia Tech added three runs on three wild pitches by Matthew Matthijs in the bottom half, building an 11-6 lead.
Hernandez had three hits, four RBIs and a run scored and Burress had three hits, scored twice and drove in two runs for the Yellow Jackets (48-9). Vahn Lackey had three hits, scored twice and drove in a run.
Hull had two hits, scored twice and drove in three runs for the Tar Heels (45-11-1).
Georgia Tech used six pitchers, with the win going to Caden Gaudette (6-1), who shut down North Carolina’s fifth-inning rally.
North Carolina’s Folger Boaz (3-3) allowed six runs, all earned, in 2 2/3 innings.
Second-seeded and No. 2 ranked North Carolina has nine ACC tournament championships and was the defending champion.
Up next
The NCAA Tournament field will be announced on Monday. Both teams are tournament regulars, with North Carolina having made 37 previous appearances and Georgia Tech 36. ___
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