Georgia Tops Georgia Tech 5-2 in Spring Classic at Truist Park

ATLANTA — Fifth-ranked Georgia used two big swings and a deep bullpen to take down No. 14 Georgia Tech 5-2 on Tuesday night at Truist Park in front of a crowd of 15,000 fans at the Spring Classic benefiting Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

With the victory, the Bulldogs improved to 33-6 and now lead the annual series 15-7 since it began in 2003. It was the first time the Spring Classic was played at the home of the Atlanta Braves.

Georgia hit a pair of home runs to reach the 100-homer mark as a team this season, a testament to the program’s power surge under head coach Wes Johnson.

With the score tied 2-2 in the fourth inning, senior Devin Obee broke the deadlock with a solo shot — his 10th home run of the season. Just two batters later, junior shortstop Kolby Branch launched a two-run homer to right, giving Georgia a three-run cushion it never relinquished.

“The game was really slow for Kolby tonight,” Johnson said. “He got a pitch out over the plate. A lot of people forget how many homers he hit last year — I think it was 18. He’s got a lot of juice in his bat. And what Devin’s been doing, he got a pitch and backed it up. He’s very strong, and he was able to run it out of here and break that tie. Those were big.”

Branch has now homered in five straight games. For the junior, hitting one in a Major League ballpark added something extra.

“I’ve never done it before, and it was sick to do it,” Branch said. “I think it barely got over the wall, so that was cool. It counts the same way, but it was a cool moment.”

Georgia used 10 pitchers on the night, with junior Alton Davis II (3-0) earning the win and sophomore Jordan Stephens locking down the save — his third of the season. Graduate Charlie Goldstein also made an impact, striking out the side in the sixth inning.

Davis said the staff was prepared for a short-inning approach and executed the game plan perfectly.

“I would just say coming in and commanding the strike zone,” Davis said. “Wes told a lot of us that we were going to get one inning or just a few batters. Coming in and executing pitches in the strike zone — that’s what we needed to do. I think everybody did their job.”

Davis also shared how returning to a more relaxed mindset helped his performance.

“Wes and I have been talking about getting back to just pitching for myself and having fun,” he said. “Being in this park, that’s all you can do — have fun. I think I did a very good job at that, and Wes was really happy about it.”

The win was another momentum-builder for the Bulldogs, who have now followed up a tough road series at Texas with wins over Presbyterian, a series victory over Arkansas, and now a signature win over a ranked in-state rival.

“It’s big momentum,” Branch said. “We came back and fought back. These are all good wins that we can build on heading into Nashville.”

Johnson, while acknowledging the importance of the rivalry win, emphasized the quality of play over the name on the opposing jersey.

“It’s very important, but more than anything it’s about playing good baseball,” Johnson said. “They’re a really good team — maybe at the top of the ACC. For us, it was about playing good baseball against a quality opponent, because that’s what we’ll see when we head to Vanderbilt.”

Up Next:
Georgia (33-6, 10-5 SEC) travels to Nashville for a key three-game SEC series against No. 19 Vanderbilt (26-10, 8-7 SEC) beginning Thursday at 7 p.m. (SECN+).