Georgia baseball falls to Georgia Tech at SunTrust Park, drops rivalry series
Georgia Tech jumped out to an early lead and held on against Georgia on Tuesday night at SunTrust Park, winning 8-6.
The No. 11-ranked Yellow Jackets (28-13) did most of their damage in the first three innings against the No. 4-ranked Bulldogs (33-9).
The teams played in front of the largest crowd to attend a college baseball game this season (18,861) in a game that benefits Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
Georgia Tech was up 7-2 lead through three innings, scoring five runs in the second on the strength of Luke Wadell’s two-run double and Kyle McCann’s three-run homer.
“When you get behind the eight ball like we did early, it’s tough to claw back,” UGA coach Scott Stricklin said in a school release. “We had our chances, but didn’t get it done.”
The Bulldogs looked to rally with three runs in the top of the fourth inning, Aaron Schunk homering to start the frame.
Georgia batted around in the lineup to draw to 7-5 before Riley King grounded out with the bases loaded to end the threat.
The Yellow Jackets manufactured an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth despite not getting a hit, taking advantage of three walks and a hit batter.
The Bulldogs final run came in the top of the sixth inning on a Tucker Maxwell solo home run.
Schunk, Cam Shepherd and Chaney Rogers had two hits apiece as Georgia out-hit the Yellow Jackets 10-6.
Pitcher Tim Elliott (5-2) took the loss, getting stunk for six earned runs in 1 1/3 innings pitched as a result of the four hits and four walks he surrendered.
Georgia Tech took two of three from Georgia this season, winning 11-2 in March in Atlanta before UGA evened the series with a 12-2 win on April 9 in Athens.
The Yellow Jackets are only the second team this season to take a series from the Bulldogs this season,
The SEC-leading Bulldogs (13-5 SEC) return to action at 7:30 p.m. on Friday against No. 8-ranked Mississippi State (33-9, 10-8).
State beat No. 19 Ole Miss by an 8-1 count on Tuesday night.
Georgia baseball notes
— Schunk’s home run was his seventh this season and his second in the stadium the Atlanta Braves call home. Schunk homered in SunTrust Park last season in Georgia’s 3-1 victory.
— Pitcher Logan Moody made his first appearance since throwing a career-high eight strikeouts in the 3-2 marathon win over Clemson last week.
— John Cable hit his fifth home run of the season, giving UGA a 2-1 lead in the second inning.
