For only the second time this season, the Bulldogs lost a series to an opponent. This time it was to their clean, old fashioned hate rival, Georgia Tech, in front of the largest crowd that college baseball has seen this season of 18,861 fans.

Tuesday night in the Atlanta Braves’ SunTrust Park the Yellow Jackets (28-13) gained an early lead which they held until the final inning to win 8-6 over the Bulldogs (33-9). 

Most of the damage was done within the first three innings of the game. No.11-ranked Georgia Tech put up seven points while No. 4-ranked Georgia only put up two. 

The Jackets were able to put five points on the board in the second inning alone because of Luke Waddell’s two-run double and Kyle McCann’s three-run homer.

Tim Elliot pitched both the first and the majority of the second innings. He had 28 pitches for strikes and two strikeouts but he also gave up four hits, four walks totaling six runs in 54 pitches. He took the loss (5-2).

“When you get behind the eight ball like we did early, it’s tough to claw back,” UGA coach Scott Stricklin said in a school release. “We had our chances, but didn’t get it done.”

The Bulldogs looked to rally with three runs in the top of the fourth inning, Aaron Schunk got his seventh homerun of the season and second ever in SunTrust Park to start the team off. 

When Cam Shepherd followed by advancing on a wild pitch for the first time, his move pushed L.J. Talley form third base to home plate. The second time, just one bat after, the move sent John Cable home. 

The Bulldogs final run came in the top of the sixth inning on a Tucker Maxwell solo home run.

The SEC-leading Bulldogs (13-5 SEC) return to action at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at No. 8-ranked Mississippi State (33-9, 10-8).