It will be an all-Atlanta affair for at least one game in the NCAA baseball regionals.
Georgia Tech (35-17-1), which received an at-large bid, will host fourth-seeded Georgia State (39-20), which qualified for the first time by winning the Colonial Athletic Association tournament, in the first round at 7 p.m. Friday at Russ Chandler Stadium. The winner will advance to play the winner of the 3 p.m. game between Southern Miss and Elon. That game will be at 7 p.m. Saturday. The regionals end no later than Monday.
Georgia (37-22) made the field as an at-large team and is in the Tallahassee bracket. The Bulldogs are the second seed and will play third-seeded Ohio State (40-17) at noon on Friday. The winner will face the winner of the game between Florida State and Marist at 4 p.m. Saturday. The Bulldogs have not played any of the teams in their regional this year.
Each regional is a double-elimination format. The winners will advance to the super regionals, which is a best-of-three format, starting either the following Friday or Saturday. Those winners will advance to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. The CWS begins June 13.
The Jackets and Panthers split their two games this year. GSU won 10-1 in March, and Tech won 18-2 in April.
"That's the good thing about having already played them twice," GSU coach Greg Frady said. "We don't need a scouting report. We pretty much know what they can do."
Georgia Tech (35-17-1) enters the tourney having lost five of its past seven games. The Jackets did defeat Florida State 9-2 on Saturday in the ACC tourney. Coach Danny Hall said he's proud of his team for earning a regional site and glad to be home after being on the road since Wednesday.
"Worked very hard to try and accomplish that, to be one of 16 sites to be selected," said Hall, who has now led Tech into the postseason 14 times in 16 seasons. "After being gone for 10-11 days, it'll be great to sleep in our own bed and play on our own field."
Georgia State (39-20) is on a school-record tying eight-game win streak. The Panthers have won 13 of their past 15 games. Frady said he respects Hall and the Tech program, and knows his team has a tough stretch ahead. But right now, he's just happy.
"I'm thrilled for our players, coaches, administration, support staff, personnel, and the entire Georgia State University," said Frady, who, like Hall, said he hasn't decided on his starting pitcher.
At one time the No. 1 team in the country, Georgia lost 11 of 13 games to end the regular season and tumble out of the polls. The Bulldogs bounced back to win two games in the SEC tournament, but LSU defeated them twice Saturday by a combined score of 19-2. Georgia made it to the finals of last year's College World Series, losing to Fresno State.
"Any time you get to this point of the season you're just happy to be in the tournament," Georgia coach David Perno said. "No matter where you go or who you play it's going to be tough. We have played well down there before and we are excited about where we are going."
If Tech or Georgia State makes it to the super regional, it could potentially face either Florida (39-20) or Miami (36-20). Georgia could face either Oklahoma (41-18) or Arkansas (34-22).
Georgia Southern (42-15) qualified by winning the Southern Conference tournament, and will face Gonzaga (35-16) in the Fullerton (Calif.) Regional at 6 p.m. ET Friday.
