Georgia Tech (40-19) will host Southern Miss. (39-17), Mississippi State (34-23) and Austin Peay (33-22) this weekend in the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament's Atlanta Regional.
The double-elimination regional begins Friday at 3 p.m. when No. 2 seed Southern Miss. plays No. 3 seed Mississippi State. No. 1 seed Georgia Tech plays No. 4 seed Austin Peay at 7 p.m. The losers of Friday's games will play Saturday at 3 p.m. and the winners of Friday's games will square off Saturday at 7 p.m.
The winner of the Atlanta Regional will advance to one of eight two-team Super Regionals, which will ultimately determine the eight-team field for the College World Series.
Georgia Tech (40-19) was one of seven Atlantic Coast Conference teams to receive an NCAA Tournament bid, joining Virginia, North Carolina, Clemson, NC State, Miami and Florida State. The Southeastern Conference also had seven teams to earn berths. The Big 12 and Pacific-10 had six each, while the Conference USA had four selected.
The Yellow Jackets will play Ohio Valley conference Champions Austin Peay on Friday evening. The Governors and the Jackets have met just once before in school history, a 14-3 Georgia Tech victory in the 1996 NCAA Regional in Baton Rouge, La.
Southern Miss., the No. 2 seed, is playing in the Atlanta Regional for the second time in three years. The Golden Eagles defeated the Jackets in the 2009 NCAA Atlanta Regional Championship before advancing to the College World Series that same year. Tech is 1-2 all-time against Southern Miss. with all three games coming in that 2009 regional.
Mississippi State will make its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since the 2007 season, a year the Bulldogs advanced to the College World Series. The Yellow Jackets and the Bulldogs have not met on the baseball diamond since 1997. Mississippi State holds a 10-3 all-time advantage in the series.
Virginia, the ACC Tournament Champion, is the NCAA Tournament's overall No. 1 seed.
Georgia Tech, 40-19 after going 1-2 in the ACC Tournament last week, will make its 25th NCAA Tournament appearance in the last 27 years and its 27th NCAA appearance overall.
Russ Chandler Stadium will host a regional for the ninth time in the last 12 years. Georgia Tech will host NCAA postseason play for the 12th time overall.
The Yellow Jackets will host a regional for the third straight year, losing last year to Alabama in the championship round. Five times Tech has won a regional that it has hosted, advancing to a Super Regional. Twice - in 2002 and 2006 - the Yellow Jackets went on to the College World Series after hosting a regional.
Tech is 26-17 all-time when hosting a regional, and the Yellow Jackets are 61-53 all-time in NCAA Tournament play overall.