Athens — The improbable happened at Foley Field.

Again.

CURTIS COMPTON/AJC (ENLARGE)

Georgia Tech second baseman #14 Patrick Long can't handle a shot by Bulldogs #10 Matt Cerione who reached first safely and recorded the go-ahead rbi for a 6-5 Georgia lead during 2nd inning action.

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For the 15th time in 15 tries, Georgia stiff-armed elimination.

Making it oh, so sweet for most of the 3,518 fans inside the park and the hundreds of others outside, it came against archrival Georgia Tech, 18-6 Monday night. For those counting, Georgia has a 6-2 record against Tech in the NCAA tournament this decade. Georgia has also won the last five postseason games against Tech.

"It's crazy, isn't it?" Georgia coach David Perno said. "After we lost Friday, I told the guys, 'History is on our side here and we just got to play to our identity,' and we did it. I don't know why I think it, it is just the right players at the right time and Foley Field has been good for us."

Georgia heads to the Super Regional to face N.C. State while Tech's season is over. The Wolfpack will travel to Georgia for the first game Friday at noon.

Georgia's head might be out of the clouds by then. Whether the Bulldogs' game has come back to earth is the question. Since Gordon Beckham hit s three-run homer against Louisville in the seventh that tied the score at 5-5, Georgia has scored 44 runs and allowed just 12.

"It looked like our season could be over and [Beckham] came through," Georgia senior Matt Olson said. "Ever since then, the bats came alive. That more than anything really turned it around."

Making those numbers all that more gaudy is the way Georgia got them. First baseman Rich Poythress had nine RBIs and three home runs in the past three games. Catcher Bryce Massanari had five two-out RBIs, the last two turning the tide against Tech. Olson was 15 for 20 in the past four games.

On top of all that, the Georgia pitching staff came through. The Bulldogs were down to who is that and what's his name. Now, no one is going to forget Nathan Moreau or Nick Montgomery.

On Sunday, Montgomery was the first Georgia pitcher shut out Tech for the first time in nearly 40 years. Moreau kept Georgia alive and its bullpen rested with a seven-inning, 14-2 win over Lipscomb. That was impressive, but it was nothing compared to what happened Monday.

Georgia's starter, Justin Grimm, gave up four runs before he recorded an out. The three-run lead Georgia staked itself to in the top of the first was gone and the season was unraveling.

Georgia Tech, which had its pitchers set up perfectly after winning Friday and Saturday's games, looked to have a decided advantage. That was, until Georgia's Alex McRee took control.

The sophomore held Tech in check by allowing just two runs over four innings.

"You never expect to go in in the first but that was what I had to do," McRee said. "It was definitely a surprise but that was what I had to do."

Will Harvil added another four scoreless innings.

Meanwhile, Georgia wscored more runs than it had in a game since 1990, when it had 20 in a win over Rutgers. All those runs were nothing new to Zach Von Tersch, who was the starter in Tech's two other most lopsided losses this season, a 16-6 loss to Clemson and a 17-8 defeat to Florida State.

But Von Tersch had some help. Georgia Tech committed six errors. Not only was it the Yellow Jackets' season high in errors, but prior to Monday's game they were the only team in the regional that had not committed an error.

"I honestly felt we had seven errors," Georgia Tech coach Danny Hall said. "I thought they missed one. We just kept breaking down inning after inning."