CHARLOTTE, N.C. – On Sunday, May 24, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets defeated the North Carolina Tar Heels 13-6 to win the 2026 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Tournament.
The Yellow Jackets are now winners of both the ACC regular season title and the ACC Tournament title. It is Georgia Tech’s first ACC Tournament title since 2014.
Georgia Tech head coach James Ramsey talked about his team bringing home the ACC Tournament title at Truist Field.
“We have an unbelievable team,” Ramsey said. “We had enough of a “grind-it-out” game to get it done. These guys never shy away from anything and want to break records.”
Vahn Lackey, Drew Burress, and Alex Hernandez power Georgia Tech’s offense to victory
Vahn Lackey, Drew Burress, and Alex Hernandez came up huge for the Yellow Jackets in the ACC Championship game. All three of those players had three hits and scored five runs combined.
Burress helped open things up for Georgia Tech with a two-run home run out to left field in the third inning. This gave the Yellow Jackets a lead and broke a 1-1 tie, making it a 3-1 game. Burress also had a double during Georgia Tech’s win.
The home run by Burress in the third inning made him Georgia Tech’s all-time home run leader with 58 career home runs.
Burress talked about accomplishing the feat of becoming the Yellow Jackets’ all-time home run leader.
“It is really special,” said Burress. “It has been something that has been in the back of my mind for a while now. Georgia Tech has had so many special players both in college and the big leagues. To pass a guy like [Jason] Varitek is really exciting.”
Lackey had an RBI knock with two outs in the sixth inning that provided some needed insurance for the Yellow Jackets. Georgia Tech entered the sixth inning with a slim 6-5 lead after North Carolina was starting to mount a comeback. Lackey’s RBI knock made it an 8-5 game.
Alex Hernandez led the Yellow Jackets in RBIs with four. His first big hit came after Burress’ two-run home run when he had a bases-clearing double to make it a 6-1 game. This led to a big five-run inning for Georgia Tech as they separated themselves from the Tar Heels early on.
Hernandez also had an RBI knock in the eighth inning that scored Ruan Zuckerman. That run was Georgia Tech’s final one of the game.
The Yellow Jackets had 14 hits as a team in their win over North Carolina. They finished the ACC Tournament with 39 hits across all three games they played at Truist Field.
Georgia Tech bullpen shows out and stymies North Carolina offense
A handful of Georgia Tech relievers came up big in shutting down North Carolina’s offense in the ACC Championship victory. Caden Gaudette, Justin Shadek, Cooper Underwood, and Mason Patel pitched the final five innings of the game and allowed one unearned run combined.
Gaudette earned the win for the Yellow Jackets as his record moved to 6-1 on the season. He pitched one inning and one strikeout, all while allowing no hits and no runs.
Underwood had two strikeouts in one inning of work while also allowing no hits and no runs. He led Georgia Tech in strikeouts alongside starting pitcher Carson Ballard, who had two strikeouts as well.
NCAA Tournament selection show time and where to watch
Next, Georgia Tech and North Carolina will both await their seeding and regional opponents that will be revealed during the 2026 NCAA Tournament selection show. The show will reveal the entire field of 64 teams that will compete for the 2026 National Championship.
The selection show will be Monday, May 25, at noon ET. The show is on ESPN2.
Check out Leif Skodnick’s guide to who is receiving bids to the 2026 NCAA Tournament here.
WBN NCAA: https://worldbaseball.com/league/ncaa/
PHOTO: Georgia Tech’s Alex Hernandez (4) runs to first base during an NCAA baseball game against Virginia Tech on Saturday, March 7, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Stew Milne)
