What Went Wrong For No.5 Georgia Tech Against Georgia State?

It was a crazy day on the pitch yesterday as chaos ensued in college baseball with several teams losing to unranked opponents. No.1 UCLA fell to San Diego State 4-3, No.2 LSU fell to McNeese State 7-6, and No.6 Arkansas fell to Arkansas State 12-4. No.5 Georgia Tech succumbed to that reality after falling to cross-town rival Georgia State 9-4 at home in probably the biggest shocker of the day.

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Four of the top six ranked teams lost to unranked opponents on Tuesday 👀 pic.twitter.com/4rYeWEOAwQ
— ESPN (@espn) February 25, 2026

The Yellow Jackets were rolling offensively and had scored more than 20 runs in three of their first eight matchups. However, Georgia State pitching was on another level and slowed down the potent offense the Yellow Jackets displayed through the first eight games. Let’s take a closer look at what went wrong for the Yellow Jackets.

Pitching

Georgia Tech struggled giving up nine unanswered runs across the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings which opened up the floodgates for Georgia State. The Panthers scored four runs in the fifth, three runs in the sixth, and two runs in the seventh. Starting Pitcher Jackson Blakley was productive in his first career start pitching four innings and striking out nine batters. He became the first Georgia Tech pitcher since the new century to record nine or more strikeouts in his first career start.

The problem came when he left the game because, through four innings, the Yellow Jackets had a 2-0 lead. The Ramblin Wreck would go on to make seven pitching changes in the game, going from Blakely to Kayden Campbell, Caden Spivey, Jamie Vicens, Carson Ballard, Dimitri Angelakos, and Caden Gaudette. Campbell gave up two hits and three earned runs in just 17 pitches. Vicens also struggled and gave up three hits, three earned runs, and had just one strikeout in 17 pitches. It was a tough stretch as the Yellow Jackets couldn’t slow down the momentum.

Batting

This is not something you think would be said about Georgia Tech, especially with all of the firepower they have, but they struggled mightily against Cooper Lewis, who had four strikeouts and didn’t allow a run through two innings pitched. Georgia Tech didn’t score after the first inning until late in the game, in the seventh inning, when they found some life. Jarren Advincula got the Yellow Jackets on board with a two-run homer at the bottom of the first that brought in Drew Burress for a quick 2-0 lead. However, Georgia Tech went 5-31 in the game when hitting. The Ramblin Wreck also went 1-9 with runners in scoring position. The Yellow Jackets had several opportunities with the bases loaded but couldn’t quite capitalize when the chances came. Georgia Tech also went 3-15 with runners on base.

It could be an aberration for the Yellow Jackets and a game they just didn’t have it, but only having five hits and scoring four runs will make it tough to beat anybody. However, they have the team and the roster to continue to get over this game and continue to ascend at the level they can play at.