Jackets rip No. 11 Dogs

Georgia could be SEC champion by Saturday evening, but for now, the Bulldogs are simply 0-for-2 against their arch-rival.

The No. 11 Bulldogs lost to Georgia Tech 11-1 in front of 3,487 fans at Foley Field on Wednesday night, assuring they will lose the regular season series against the Yellow Jackets.

"That was the worst game we've played all year," head coach David Perno said. "This is the first time all year we've been whipped. We've lost a lot of games, but we've been in every one of them and we've had chances. Tonight, we didn't have a chance."

Now the Bulldogs must rebound heading into a weekend series in Nashville, Tenn., against No. 22 Vanderbilt. If it wins that series, something it has done in seven of its previous eight conference series, it will clinch the SEC championship.

"We came out flat tonight, and we didn't have a chance," Georgia shortstop Gordon Beckham said. "Tech took it to us. It's pretty sad because this is Tech. It's our rival, and we didn't show up to play. I think half of that may be that we want to win this SEC. That's more important to us honestly than beating Georgia Tech, but that's no excuse."

"I think a lot of our guys' minds were set on this weekend," first baseman Rich Poythress said.

The Bulldogs (31-16-1) and Yellow Jackets (34-14) will play again Tuesday night at Turner Field in the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Spring Baseball Classic. Georgia hasn't lost the season series to Georgia Tech since 2002. If that streak is to continue, the Bulldogs will have to get a postseason matchup with the Jackets.

Georgia has lost twice to the Jackets by a combined score of 20-5.

College baseball teams traditionally place less emphasis on midweek games in order to save their best pitchers for the weekends and conference play. The Bulldogs followed that pattern, starting Will Harvil, who was making his second career start and using seven different pitchers.

The Yellow Jackets started their midweek specialist, Deck McGuire, who improved to 8-0 overall and 2-0 against the Bulldogs by allowing only four hits and one run in seven innings.

Georgia stayed close for four innings, but the Yellow Jackets scored nine, two-out runs in the fifth, sixth, seventh innings and eighth to take an 11-1 lead.

"We just couldn't get the third out, and we just didn't make any adjustments offensively," Perno said.

Beckham, who is making a run for national player of the year honors and leads the nation with 22 home runs, was 1-for-4 with no RBIs.

Wednesday was the Bulldogs' first game without starting second baseman Michael Demperio, who tore his ACL Sunday against Ole Miss and will miss the remainder of the season. Sophomore David Thoms and junior Miles Starr split time in Demperio's spot.

The game did no damage to Georgia's conference ranking, but it continued a string of midweek struggles. The Bulldogs have lost to Kennesaw State, Winthrop and now the Yellow Jackets twice in midweek games.