Georgia, Georgia Tech on track for Spring Classic’s first top 5 matchup

Pick an offensive statistic and there’s an excellent chance both Georgia and Georgia Tech’s baseball teams are at or near the top in Division l.

Home runs? Georgia is No. 1 with 100. Tech is No. 3 with 79.

Batting average? Tech leads the way at .362. Georgia is fifth at .324.

Slugging percentage? Tech is first at .642. Georgia is second at .622.

You get the idea.

“You see it in high-octane offenses in football and basketball and baseball,” Georgia Tech athletic director Ryan Alpert said of the Yellow Jackets. “We’re a great show on turf to be able to come out and watch …

“You don’t go into it saying, ‘Well, we’re only going to hire coaches that score,’ but we’re in the entertainment business, and certainly in baseball, people love to see home runs. They love to see hits. They love to see you running the bases.”

There has been no shortage of entertainment for both flagship schools in the Peach State, with the Bulldogs and Jackets enjoying dominant seasons so far. Tech is 31-5 and on a 13-game win streak, its longest since 2011. The Bulldogs are off to their best conference start in 17 years (11-4).

They’ll face each other at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Truist Park, home of the Atlanta Braves, in the annual Spring Classic, which benefits Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and has raised more than $4.5 million.

It’s not unique for this to be a competitive matchup featuring ranked teams. Take last year’s game, in which No. 5 Georgia defeated No. 14 Tech 5-2 in front of 15,000 fans at Truist Park.

Since the inception of the annual classic in 2003, though, this could be the first time both teams face off while ranked in the top five by D1Baseball. Tech (31-5, 15-3 ACC) is No. 2 and Georgia (30-8, 11-4 SEC) is No. 5 heading into the weekend.

Tech faces a three-game series at No. 3 North Carolina beginning Friday, and Georgia begins a series at No. 16 Arkansas on Thursday, so rankings could fluctuate before Tuesday’s matchup. Still, the closest this has come to even a top 10 matchup for the Spring Classic was 2019, when No. 4 Georgia fell 8-6 to No. 11 Tech.

Overall, Georgia has a 15-7 edge against Tech in the Spring Classic (the teams typically play three times a season, but one game is featured as the Classic at a neutral site, such as Truist Park, the Gwinnett Stripers’ Coolray Field or Turner Field). There has been a top 10 matchup between the teams outside of the Classic, however, with No. 7 Georgia defeating No. 3 Tech in two straight games in the 2004 NCAA Super Regional in Atlanta to advance to the College World Series.

Georgia baseball’s most recent trip to the College World Series came in 2008. The Bulldogs won the title in 1990.

Tech last reached the College World Series in 2006.

Both the Bulldogs and Jackets are Omaha hopefuls this year.

“I think it’s a credit to both programs,” Alpert said of this season’s marquee matchup between the programs. “Prioritizing baseball, it’s a huge part of the state of Georgia. … I just think there’s so much talent that is either grown out of the state of Georgia and/or folks want to come play in the state of Georgia. And both programs are led by tremendous head coaches. And I think you’re seeing both programs thrive right now.”

James Ramsey has the best record of any Georgia Tech coach in their first season through 36 games. He took over for the legendary Danny Hall after being an assistant coach and recruiting director for the Yellow Jackets. In 32 years, Hall amassed a 1,244-676-1 record (.648 winning percentage).

Georgia baseball has seen a resurgence under coach Wes Johnson, who was hired in 2023 and came within a game of reaching the College World Series in his first season. The Bulldogs were bolstered by the success of Charlie Condon, who became the highest draft pick in school history at No. 3 overall in 2024. Georgia hosted a second straight regional in 2025.

“There is a ton of excitement around Georgia baseball,” Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks said. “If you look at what Wes and his staff have done over his first three years in terms of competing at the top of the SEC, earning a top eight national seed and developing student-athletes on and off the field, we could not be happier about the direction of our program.

“You see that enthusiasm among our fans with Foley Field sold out nearly every SEC weekend. This is a state that loves baseball and has some of the top young talent in the country, so it has been special to see Wes continue to build our program into a national competitor.”

To Alpert and Brooks’ point, both schools feature quite a bit of homegrown talent, with 14 players from the state of Georgia on UGA’s roster and 26 on Georgia Tech’s.