If you want to pinpoint one reason why Georgia sits ranked 17th in the country and atop the SEC East, pitching is a good place to start.

A season after finishing last in the conference in basically every category, the Bulldogs have completely revamped that area of their game and the results are showing.

Tuesday night's 4-0 win over arch-rival Georgia Tech marked the sixth shutout this year for Georgia (22-7), which came into play with a team ERA of 3.52 after posting a 5.02 a season ago.

Opponents are finding the going much tougher. Just ask Georgia Tech.

Yellow Jacket batters struck out 14 times against a quartet of Bulldog pitchers, including a career-high nine by Kevin Smith, who allowed just two hits and a walk in 4.1 innings of work.

"Our guys are throwing with a lot of confidence," head coach Scott Stricklin said. "They really trust Coach (Sean) Kenny. He's a really good pitch caller. No matter what the score is, no matter what the score is, he makes them pitch, he always expects them to throw that off-speed for strikes and they do a good job of keeping opposing hitters off balance."

Smith's story is an interesting one.

Penciled in as Georgia's Friday night starter to begin the year, that role lasted only three weekends before skipper Scott Stricklin made the change, inserting the junior lefty into the bullpen where he's established himself as key part of Georgia's pitching plans.

"When they made that decision I was definitely for it," Smith said. "I've had success in the past in the bullpen and I thought I'd be able to help the team by coming out."

Smith (4-1) relieved Tony Locey, who went the first two innings, fanning four before Zak Kristofak replaced Smith with one out in the seventh.

Aaron Schunk tossed a scoreless ninth to close out the combined four-hitter and secure the team's sixth shutout, the most for a Bulldog team since the 2006 squad recorded eight. The 2006 team advanced to the College World Series.

Georgia Tech starter Brant Hurter did his part to keep the Yellow Jackets right there.

The left-hander had the Bulldogs handcuffed to two hits before a two-out single by Adam Sasser and walk to LJ Talley brought up catcher Mason Meadows.

The redshirt freshman came through, bouncing a single to left, bringing home Sasser for the game’s first run.

There was more to come.

Georgia tacked on three more runs in the seventh on three straight RBI singles from Schunk, Keegan McGovern and Michael Curry.

"You ask our fans, this is the biggest game of the year when we play Tech," Stricklin said. "We felt that way as staff and that's why we pitched and played the way we did to win that game."

Curry and McGovern led Georgia’s 11-hit attack with two hits each.

"Sometimes, good things just take time and patience," Curry said of the team's season to date. "Our mentality has been great, our work ethic has been great ... I don't know. We're having fun. We're playing baseball and having fun."

NOTES: Georgia and Georgia Tech will play two more times this season, next on April 24 in Atlanta before a third and final game May 8 at SunTrust Park. … The Bulldogs resume SEC play this weekend with a three-game series at Vanderbilt.