Georgia Tech hit seven home runs Thursday to blast its way into the ACC tournament semifinals with a 10-3 win over California at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
Three of Tech’s long balls came in the bottom of the first, with Drew Burress hitting a lead-off shot, Kyle Lodise mashing a two-run homer, and Caleb Daniel hitting a solo home run. That put Tech up 4-0, and the Yellow Jackets (40-16) never relinquished the lead.
Tech starting pitcher Tate McKee (7-3) went 6⅓ innings and worked around eight hits to allow only two earned runs. He struck out 10. Mason Patel relieved McKee and closed out the final 2⅔ of the game.
The Golden Bears (24-31) scored 26 runs in their first two ACC tourney games but were held to three Thursday.
“That was a great win for us,” Tech coach Danny Hall said. “We got off to a great start. Tate McKee gave us those three outs in the first inning which is always good, and then we came in and hit a bunch of homers in the first inning to get out to the lead.”
Drew Rogers hit a solo home run in the seventh, Alex Hernandez lifted out a solo jack, and then Vahn Lackey served up an inside-the-park homer in the eighth to pad the margin.
Burress hit his second of the day, a three-run shot in the eighth, providing the final score.
“We’re so dynamic,” Burress said after the win. “We can hit you with singles and get you on the basepaths, we can beat with the long ball. We can beat you if the game is 2-1, which hasn’t been true and wasn’t true at times last year. And we can win games 20-1.
“It’s one of those things there’s so many different ways we can beat teams right now it doesn’t always have to be the same way. I think that’s kind of what made this team special so far this year.”
Tech is scheduled to face Clemson (43-15) at 1 p.m. Saturday.
— This story will be updated.
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