The awards and honors just keep rolling in for Georgia Tech freshman outfielder Drew Burress. For the second time this offseason, he has been named as a first-team All-American.
𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓-𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐌 𝐀𝐋𝐋-𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐀@drew_burress08 became just the 10th freshman hitter and 24th freshman overall to be named to @BaseballAmerica‘s first team!
🔗https://t.co/SYjjiz2W9F#WreckHavoc x #StingEm pic.twitter.com/E7wOsQhgQ5
— Georgia Tech Baseball (@GTBaseball) June 21, 2024
Burress became just the 10th freshman position player and 24th freshman overall to earn first-team honors in the organization’s 42 seasons of selecting the top collegiate baseball players. He’s the first freshman first-team hitter since Seth Beer (Clemson) in 2016. Eight of the nine freshman first-teamers previously went on to be first-round MLB Draft picks as well.
Burress was named Perfect Game’s National Freshman of the Year, an NCBWA First-Team All-American, and was selected to ABCA/Rawlings First-Team All-Southeast Region. Ellis also pulled in First-Team All-Southeast Region honors, making the Yellow Jackets one of just three Atlantic Coast Conference programs to earn multiple first-team all-region selections, joining Wake Forest and Florida State.
Burress led Georgia Tech in a myriad of categories, including average (.381), home runs (25) and RBI (67), becoming the 12th Yellow Jacket to win Tech’s triple crown. Burress is the first to accomplish the feat since Matt Gonzalez in 2016. His 25 home runs set the Tech freshman record and fell one shy of tying the single-season record (Kevin Parada, 2022).
In addition to his team-leading average, the NCBWA Freshman Hitter of the Year finished with 15 doubles and three triples and drew more walks (58) than strikeouts (37) for a .512 on-base percentage and an OPS of 1.333. He also finished 8-for-10 in stolen bases and set the Georgia Tech record for most assists by an outfielder, gunning down 10 base-runners from center field this season.
Burress led all Division I freshmen in six statistical categories to finish the regular season (home runs, home runs per game, slugging, total bases, walks and walks per game), while ranking Top 3 nationally in 11 categories. He also led ACC freshmen in eight categories to wrap up the year (runs and on-base percentage), while also ranking second in RBI, RBI/game and batting average to earn first-team all-conference honors.
In just his first year on The Flats, Burress has racked up a plethora of accolades. In addition to all-conference and ACC Freshman of the Year honors, Burress was also named Perfect Game Third-Team All-American, Perfect Game Freshman First-Team All-American, a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award and the Dick Howser Trophy.
(All Stats and Info Courtesy of Georgia Tech Athletics)
