Two years ago, Tommy White burst onto the college baseball scene as a true freshman at North Carolina State and went on to solidify his "Tommy Tanks" nickname by hitting an NCAA freshman record of 27 home runs.
Now, Georgia Tech's Drew Burress is setting out to do one better. The freshman outfielder crushed four home runs Tuesday night against Georgia State, bringing his season total to an NCAA-leading nine dingers in just eight games. If that sounds familiar, it's because White also hit nine home runs in his first eight games as a freshman.
?????? ??????@drew_burress08 HITS HIS ?????? HOME RUN OF THE GAME!!#WreckHavoc x #StingEm pic.twitter.com/qzZfFdp8en
— Georgia Tech Baseball (@GTBaseball) February 27, 2024
Burress needed just four swings to set the school record for home runs in a single game. And that's saying something considering such MLB stars as Mark Teixeira, Nomar Garciaparra, Charlie Blackmon and Jason Varitek played their ball there. Oh, and he's still just eight games into his career as a 19-year-old.
Considering that no one else in the country has more than six long balls, what Burress is doing is incredibly impressive. According to him, he expects this type of greatness.
"I expect to go out there and hit a home run every time," Burress said, via MLB.com. "It sounds over the top, but when I go out there, that is what I'm expected to do. It very rarely works out, but today it did."
Only time will tell if this young slugger will break White's record. In the meantime, let's figure out a catchy nickname for him.
