Georgia Tech baseball awaits showdown with Clemson after sweeping Notre Dame

RPI: 22

Last week

Tuesday: beat Gardner-Webb 14-6

Friday: beat Notre Dame 18-7 (8 innings)

Saturday: beat Notre Dame 9-5

Sunday: beat Notre Dame 10-2

This week

Today: vs. Kennesaw State, 6 p.m.

Friday: vs. Clemson, 6 p.m.

Saturday: vs. Clemson, 4 p.m.

Sunday: vs. Clemson, 1 p.m.

Week in review

Tech put an exclamation point on the weekend Sunday by pounding Notre Dame 10-2 in South Bend, Indiana. That victory gave the Yellow Jackets their 20th win of the season.

Catcher Vahn Lackey drove in two runs in Sunday’s 10-2 win, and Jaylen Paden came out of the bullpen to fan five over three innings of scoreless work.

On Saturday, Mason Patel (7-0) threw 6 2/3 innings of relief, allowing one earned run while fanning seven hitters in a 9-5 win. Kyle Lodise, Carson Kerce and Will Baker combined to drive in six runs.

Lodise began the weekend with a bang — three of them, actually, blasting three homes runs in Friday’s 18-7 victory that ended in eight innings. A Brunswick native and Augusta transfer, Lodise now has a team-leading nine homers.

The Jackets started their four-game winning streak Tuesday with a 14-6 victory over Gardner-Webb in which Drew Burress drove in four runs.

Week ahead

Tech makes the short trek up I-75 to face Kennesaw State in a rematch of a March 4 meeting won 11-4 by the Jackets at Russ Chandler Stadium. Alex Hernandez, Kent Schmidt and Lodise drove in a combined seven runs in that first meetings. The Owls (10-14) took two of three from Western Kentucky in a Conference USA series over the weekend.

On Friday, Tech begins a huge three-game series against Clemson. The Tigers (23-2, 4-2 ACC) have an RPI of 3 and are ranked inside the top 10 of every major college baseball poll.

Clemson’s two losses to Notre Dame at home and Wake Forest at home. The Tigers, who have played only one road game, host Presbyterian on Tuesday before coming to Atlanta.