Georgia Tech Outfielder Drew Burress Named Freshman Hitter Of The Year

This was the second award Burress won on Tuesday

Georgia Tech outfielder Drew Burress Named Freshman Hitter Of The Year / Georgia Tech Athletics

Georgia Tech outfielder Drew Burress turned in a freshman season for the ages in 2024 and earlier today, he was named to the freshman All-American Team. Buress kept the awards coming in today when he was named the Freshman Hitter of the Year.

𝐀𝐂𝐂 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫.
𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐇𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫.

What a breakout season for the rookie 🫡@GTBaseball | #AccomplishGreatness pic.twitter.com/l03sUMhHpt

— ACC Baseball (@ACCBaseball) June 11, 2024

The NCBWA splits its Freshman of the Year honors into Pitcher of the Year and Hitter of the Year to honor both sides of the game. Burress is the second player in program history to earn the distinction, joining Derek Dietrich, who earned the award in 2008.

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 ACC Freshman 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 a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award and the Dick Howser Trophy.

(All Stats and Info Courtesy of Georgia Tech Athletics)