No. 2 Georgia Tech routs No. 5 Georgia, 14-4 in Atlanta

ATLANTA — For a brief moment Tuesday night, it looked like Georgia might turn Truist Park into its own personal launching pad.

Then Georgia Tech turned it into a rout.

The third-ranked Yellow Jackets answered an early deficit with a relentless offensive attack and rolled past No. 5 Georgia, 14-4, in front of a crowd of 20,000 at Truist Park in the Spring Classic benefiting Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

Georgia (32-10) struck first — and struck loud.

Michael O’Shaughnessy continued his torrid stretch at the plate, blasting a two-run homer in the first inning to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead. The shot marked his third straight at-bat with a home run dating back to last weekend and his 13th of the season.

But that momentum didn’t last long.

Georgia Tech (33-7) answered immediately with two runs in the bottom of the first, then kept applying pressure with two more in the second and three in the third to seize control of the game.

By the time the Bulldogs settled in, they were staring at a 7-2 deficit.

“They hit a lot of seeing-eye ground balls that got through, and it was just one of those nights,” Georgia head coach Wes Johnson said. “We need to execute a little better with two strikes. We have to get better.”

Georgia showed signs of life in the fifth inning.

O’Shaughnessy launched his second home run of the night — his 14th of the season and fourth homer in his last five at-bats — before Henry Allen followed with a blast of his own. The back-to-back home runs, the 10th time Georgia has accomplished the feat this season, trimmed the deficit to 9-4.

But any hopes of a comeback were short-lived.

Georgia Tech erupted for five runs in the bottom half of the fifth inning, highlighted by a two-run homer from Ryan Zuckerman and a two-run single from Jarren Advincula, pushing the lead to 12-4 and putting the game out of reach.

The Yellow Jackets added two more runs in the sixth to cap a dominant night at the plate, finishing with 14 runs on 14 hits while drawing seven walks and consistently capitalizing on scoring opportunities.

Drew Burress led the way for Tech with four hits and three RBIs, while Advincula also drove in three runs in a balanced offensive effort.

Georgia, meanwhile, finished with 10 hits but struggled to string together timely offense, going 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position.

On the mound, the Bulldogs used six pitchers in a planned staff night. Starter Paul Farley (4-1) took the loss after allowing four runs on six hits in two innings.

Despite the loss, Georgia continued its historic power surge. With three more home runs Tuesday night, the Bulldogs now lead the nation with 116 on the season.

The game also marked the first top-five matchup in the history of the Spring Classic, though Georgia still holds a 15-8 edge in the all-time series.

Georgia will look to regroup quickly as it returns to SEC play this weekend, traveling to No. 22 Ole Miss for a three-game series beginning Friday night.

“We’ve got a big, tough weekend coming up,” Johnson said. “We’re going to get back to Athens and get to work.”