Georgia Tech Outfielder Drew Burress Named D1 Baseball's National Freshman Of The Year

Burress turned into one of the nation's best players this season

Georgia Tech Outfielder Drew Buress / Georgia Tech Athletics

The awards are still coming in for Georgia Tech outfielder Drew Buress, who was not only one of the nation's top freshman players, but he was one of the best overall players in the country. Today, Burress was named the D1 Baseball national freshman of the year.

𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐇𝐌𝐀𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑@drew_burress08 has been named @d1baseball's top freshman!

🔗 https://t.co/P7O1im8W5u#WreckHavoc x #StingEm pic.twitter.com/8Rsyc2QI0G

— Georgia Tech Baseball (@GTBaseball) July 5, 2024

Having earned the nation’s top freshman honor from Perfect Game and NCBWA (top hitter), Burress becomes the third Yellow Jacket to be lauded by a major publication as national freshman of the year, joining Mark Teixeira in 1999 (Collegiate Baseball) and Derek Dietrich in 2008 (Rivals.com).

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 are courtesy of Georgia Tech Athletics