As a transfer from Young Harris with an inury-ridden 2007 season, Nick Montgomery has three starts in his short Bulldog baseball career – and he’s beat Georgia Tech in two of them.

Montgomery’s complete game performance on Sunday against the Yellow Jackets pushed the Bulldogs into Monday’s Regional championship game against those same Jackets, albeit not the way top-seeded Georgia envisioned – via the loser’s bracket.

After dropping their initial game to Lipscomb and topping Louisville on Saturday, the host Diamond Dogs returned to Foley Field for two games Sunday, topping Lipscomb in the afternoon before the evening’s 8-0 defeat of Tech.

“We played really close to our identity all day,” Georgia coach Dave Perno said. “Great defense, great pitching, and hitting home runs.”

“Monty” looked easily in control over nine shutout innings and struck out nine Yellow Jackets, helping him remain the only Georgia pitcher to beat Tech this season (his first career start as a Diamond Dog came in Georgia’s only other win against the Jackets, a 3-2 decision at Turner Field at the start of May).

He allowed only four hits, facing just three Georgia Tech batters in seven frames and setting down 19 of the last 20 Jackets he faced. His complete game shutout was the first time Georgia has held Tech scoreless since 1999, and the first time the Yellow Jackets have been shut out in NCAA action since 1989.

“When things get tough there’s nobody you’d rather have out there on the mound with his experience in the bullpen and his demeanor,” Perno said.

When asked when the last time he threw a shutout was, the senior from Marietta smiled and made it clear he didn’t know any better than the next person.

“Freshman year? Five years ago? 1993? Junior college?” he said, chuckling. “A long time ago. I couldn’t tell you.”

Senior Matt Olson went 2-for-4 with a walk against Tech, continuing his red-hot streak throughout the Regional – a cumulative 13-for-20 (.650) in the Bulldogs’ four games. His two-run homer in the third put the Diamond Dogs on the board first, and home runs from Matt Cerione and Rich Poythress (his first of the game, second of the day) pushed to Diamond Dogs past elimination for another night.

“One of the main things is I know that this is my last shot at playing college baseball, maybe baseball period,” Olson said of his performance at the plate. “I’m just rying to do everything I can to help out. But I’ve also made a few adjustments over the past week, in Birmingham and in Alabama I wasn’t swinging that well. I got in the cage and made some adjustments, and it’s worked out well for me.”

The Bulldogs advanced to the night game by topping Lipscomb 14-3 earlier in the afternoon, powered by Olson and the help of a couple of home runs.

Four singles, a walk and a hit batsman accounted for the four-run Diamond Dog first before homers by designated hitter Bryce Massanari and first baseman Rich Poythress sealed the Bisons’ fate.

Olson went 5-for-6 on the game, reaching base in his first five plate appearances and scoring runs in the first, second, fourth and fifth innings. He added an RBI in the fifth.

“The first game we had a lot of emotion still from our conference tournament, and they were coming off a couple games where they didn’t play as well as they are capable,” Lipscomb head coach Jeff Forehand said. “They know how to score, how to swing the bats, and they did great at that today.”

Massanari’s two-run shot in the fourth gave him 26 two-out RBI on the campaign, almost half of his season total of 57, while junior starter Nathan Moreau gave the Bulldogs a season-high seven innings of work. Georgia’s 21 hits marked a new season high for hits allowed for Lipscomb, who beat the Diamond Dogs 10-7 in Friday’s opening game of the Regional.

Monday’s 7 pm championship matchup will be the fifth time the Bulldogs and Yellow Jackets have matched up this season, splitting the series. Georgia, however, has won the last two. Perno said that righty Justin Grimm and southpaw Alex McRee are the two “most likely choices” to get the start in Monday’s deciding game, but Tech coach Danny Hall had a more general suggestion: “I just hope that Nick Montgomery can’t pitch tomorrow.”

Box Score, Game 1

Georgia 4 2 0 2 4 0 0 0 2 14 21 0
Lipscomb 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 9 0

WP- Moreau (4-2)
LP- Dunn (5-5)
HR- Georgia: Poythress (13), Massanari (10)

Box Score, Game 2

Georgia Tech 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Georgia 0 0 2 1 2 0 3 0 x 8 11 0

WP- Montgomery (3-2)
LP- Burns (7-5)
HR- Georgia: Poythress (14), Olson (8), Cerione (7)