Omaha, Neb. ? When Clemson is trailing in the late innings, watch out.

The top-seeded Tigers pulled out their fourth come-from-behind victory in as many games, this time striking for all their runs in the eighth inning of an 8-4 win over Georgia Tech in the College World Series opener Friday.

Andy D’Alessio’s three-run homer gave the Tigers the lead in the biggest late-game CWS comeback in 20 years.

“Your team has to believe, and your team has to have the weapons to be able to do it,” Clemson coach Jack Leggett said. “Our team believes that you’re never out of it until the final out. You can always come back.”

No team had come back from four or more runs down in the eighth inning to win in the CWS since Arizona rallied from a six-run deficit to beat Maine 8-7 in 1986.

Clemson (53-14) advanced to a Bracket 1 game Sunday against the winner of Friday night’s meeting between Cal State Fullerton and North Carolina. Georgia Tech (50-17) plays the loser of that game.

The Tigers beat fellow Atlantic Coast Conference member Georgia Tech for the fourth time in seven meetings this season. It was the second time in a row the Tigers had used a big inning to beat the Yellow Jackets. Clemson scored 10 runs in the ninth inning of a 16-11 victory at the ACC tournament.

Until the eighth Friday, it looked as if things were well in hand for the Yellow Jackets. Tech starter Lee Hyde, who allowed two hits over seven innings, left after giving up a walk and single to start the eighth. Four pitchers followed and a total of 13 Clemson batters went to the plate.

“It was a good game for us for seven innings,” Tech coach Danny Hall said. “Hyde pitched magnificent. He couldn’t have pitched any better than he did.

“It was a tough inning for us and it certainly was a disappointing loss. Now we’ll have to regroup for Sunday.”

North Carolina 7, Cal State Fullerton 5, 13 innings

Omaha, Neb. – Josh Horton broke a tie with an RBI single in the 13th inning, and North Carolina beat Cal State Fullerton 7-5 on Friday night in the second-longest game in College World Series history at 4 hours, 53 minutes.