Georgia Tech faces Oklahoma in Winner-Take-All NCAA Regional final

ATLANTA — Georgia Tech has spent three months building one of the most explosive offenses in college baseball and compiling the best 60-game start in school history.

By late Monday afternoon, none of that will matter unless the Yellow Jackets win one more game.

Second-seeded Georgia Tech and Oklahoma will meet at 3 p.m. Monday at Russ Chandler Stadium in a winner-take-all showdown for the Atlanta Regional championship. The winner advances to the NCAA Super Regional round. The loser’s season is over.

The Yellow Jackets (50-10) enter the decisive game having already established the best 60-game record in program history while rewriting much of the school’s offensive record book. But after Sunday’s 15-8 loss to Oklahoma, Georgia Tech now finds itself one defeat away from an abrupt ending.

The Sooners forced the winner-take-all matchup by overcoming a seven-run deficit Sunday night.

Georgia Tech appeared firmly in control after Drew Burress blasted a two-run homer in the first inning and the Yellow Jackets erupted for five runs in the third to build an 8-2 lead. Ryan Zuckerman delivered a two-run single during the rally, and Alex Hernandez followed with a three-run home run, his fourth homer of the regional.

Jarren Advincula later added a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 9-2.

But Oklahoma answered with an eight-run inning to erase the deficit and eventually pulled away to force Monday’s rematch.

The loss did little to diminish what has been one of the finest seasons in Georgia Tech history.

The Yellow Jackets have scored 655 runs this season, the second-highest total in school history and just two shy of the NCAA BBCOR-era record. Their 137 home runs are a school record, and they have scored at least eight runs in each of their last 14 games.

Georgia Tech already defeated Oklahoma earlier in the regional and will attempt to do it one more time with a Super Regional berth on the line.

Burress enters Monday’s game after another big performance Sunday. The junior went 3-for-5 and hit his program-record 59th career home run. Hernandez continued his torrid postseason run with his fourth regional homer, while Advincula extended his hitting streak to 28 games, tying for the second-longest streak in school history.

There is also a local connection to Georgia Tech’s postseason run.

Freshman pitcher Charlie Willcox, a former Deerfield-Windsor standout before finishing his high school career at South Walton (Fla.), made his NCAA Tournament debut Friday against UIC. The right-hander pitched a scoreless inning and could be called upon again Monday as the Yellow Jackets try to keep their season alive.

The stakes could not be higher.

Georgia Tech is seeking its first trip to the Super Regional round since 2006 and the sixth Super Regional appearance in program history. Standing in the way is an Oklahoma team that has already shown it can erase a large deficit and thrive under pressure.

The Yellow Jackets have hit 137 home runs, scored 655 runs and won 50 games this season. None of those accomplishments guarantees another tomorrow.

Monday, Georgia Tech gets one game to earn it.