Georgia Tech opened regional play Friday by turning a 2-0 hole into a 22-5 rout of UIC, a postseason statement that came with seven home runs and the program’s first home regional game since 2019. The Yellow Jackets did not just win; they overwhelmed the game with power, patience and an offense that kept building after the first punch landed.
Vahn Lackey was part of that burst, driving a two-run homer 456 feet at 110 mph and later saying he learned the distance only after the game from Instagram. Alex Hernandez set the comeback in motion with a game-tying two-run homer before an out was recorded in the bottom of the second, and Parker Brosius followed one out later with a homer that put Georgia Tech ahead for good.
That was only the start. Georgia Tech scored five runs in the third inning and nine more in the fourth, burying UIC under a lineup that kept producing long after the early deficit was erased. Hernandez finished with three home runs and nine RBIs, leaving him one solo shot short of a home-run cycle in a game that became the kind of offensive outburst opponents spend a season trying to avoid.
UIC had opened the second inning with a 2-0 lead, but the margin lasted only briefly. Once Georgia Tech answered, the game tilted hard and never came back, with the home team piling up runs in waves while the visitors struggled to slow one inning after another. James Ramsey said it was valuable for his club to play from behind in the tournament and still keep its poise, something he said had held all season.
The result fit the season Georgia Tech has built. The team has outscored opponents 105-13 in the third inning this year, and the win added another line to what has been described as an all-time great offensive run. Sean McDermott called it the most complete offensive team he had seen and said he had never faced a lineup like it in his seventh regional, a view that matches the way Georgia Tech has been discussed as one of the favorites to win the College World Series.
That kind of depth matters because Georgia Tech may not be done adding to it. The roster includes five All-ACC first-teamers and could send as many as seven players to the draft this summer, including multiple first-rounders. For now, though, the only number that matters is the one on the scoreboard, and Georgia Tech will take its 22-5 start into Saturday’s next game with the same message it sent in the opener: this postseason run began at home, and it began loudly.
