Key Moments in Georgia Tech's 22-5 Win Against UIC in CBB Regional

Georgia Tech is heading to the winners bracket in the Atlanta regional.

The Yellow Jackets looked every bit like the No. 2 overall team in the tournament in their dominant 22-5 home victory against UIC. Georgia Tech scored those 22 runs on 22 hits, including seven home runs, and now they will advance to play the winner of tonight's game between Oklahoma and the Citadel.

Key moment in this game

Georgia Tech pitcher Carson Ballard — Georgia Tech Pitcher Carson Ballard | Georgia Tech Athletic

If you look at the box score and stats, you might not know that Georgia Tech was actually down 2-0 in the second inning of this game. After a quick first inning, Georgia Tech starter Carson Ballard gave up a leadoff single and then a two-run shot that gave UIC a 2-0 lead and all the hope in the world.

But before you could blink, Georgia Tech's superhuman offense kicked into gear and shut the door on any potential upsets.

When you look around at the opening games in today's regionals, there have been a few top seeds struggling today to win their opening games and in some cases, just getting upset outright. Southern Miss was upset by Little Rock, and Rider took Florida all the way to the wire. Combine that with Georgia Tech's past regional failures, it would be hard to blame any Yellow Jackets fan for feeling a little uneasy after they fell behind 2-0.

It did not take long to erase that deficit though.

At the bottom of the 2nd, a two-run home run from Alex Hernandez (his first of three today) tied the game, and Parker Brosius gave the Yellow Jackets their first lead of the day with a solo shot and that was the game. Yes, the lead was just 3-2 at that point, but it was just the beginning of what would be an incredible day for the best offense in the country.

That three-run second inning was followed up by five in the third thanks to a two-run home run from Vahn Lackey, an RBI single from Schmidt, and a 2-RBI double from Baker that pushed the lead to 8-2.

That was eight combined runs in two innings. What's better than that? Nine runs in one inning.

A grand slam from Hernandez gave Georgia Tech a 12-2 lead, and then a three-run home run from Kerce and a two-run home run from Advincula extended the lead to 17-2. In just four innings, Georgia Tech had chased off UIC's ace Mason Lei and took over the game.

Ballard settled in nicely after that two-run home run he gave up and struck out six in four innings. The single and home run were the only two hits he allowed in the entire game.

Georgia Tech looked every bit as good as advertised, and now the Yellow Jackets will be awaiting the winner of the Oklahoma and The Citadel matchup tonight. Starting 2-0 in a regional is huge for any team and especially for one as strong as Georgia Tech.

This program has not advanced out of a regional in 20 years, but today was a good start to that journey to breaking the streak.

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