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Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
UNC baseball's Jackson Van De Brake, Jake Knapp talk NCAA Tournament Chapel Hill Regional
Georgia coach on Bulldogs 'setting tone' in NCAA regional vs. Binghamton Georgia baseball coach Wes Johnson discussed the Bulldogs 20-4 win vs. Binghamton to open the NCAA baseball tournament at the Athens regional on Friday, May 30. 1:38 Now Playing Paused Ad Playing
USA Today
27-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Georgia baseball rises in rankings ahead of NCAA Tournament
Georgia baseball rises in rankings ahead of NCAA Tournament The Georgia Bulldogs baseball team is ranked No. 6 in the May 26 edition of the USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll. Georgia rose two spots in the poll, but was eliminated from the SEC Baseball Tournament in their first game against Oklahoma. Georgia is the No. 7 national seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs will host the Athens Regional and if they win the regional, then Georgia will host the Athens Super Regional. The Athens Regional starts on Friday, May 30. Georgia (42-15) will open the NCAA Tournament against Binghamton (29-24), who won the American East championship. The winner of the Georgia-Binghamton game will play the winner of the Duke-Oklahoma State game on Saturday. The NCAA Tournament is double elimination. What Wes Johnson said of UGA's NCAA Tournament path "I told our guys don't get caught up with what seed we are and focus on we got a game here Friday against Binghamton," said Georgia baseball coach Wes Johnson. "We've been fortunate enough to have a good season and get a top eight national seed. You don't need to get caught up in all the noise about what seed you are and that's how you don't make it out of your regional. We got a good, challenging regional, and we better be ready to play Friday." Georgia's opening game of the Athens Regional versus Binghamton will be played at noon ET (televised on SEC Network) on Friday, May 30. No other team in the Athens Regional is ranked. However, the No. 2 seeded (of the Athens Regional) Duke Blue Devils did receive 16 votes and would have been ranked as the No. 29 team in the country based on the amount of votes they received.
USA Today
26-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Georgia baseball learns its NCAA Tournament fate
Georgia baseball learns its NCAA Tournament fate The Georgia Bulldogs baseball team will be hosting a regional for the second consecutive year under second year manager Wes Johnson. Georgia baseball has officially made the NCAA Tournament and is one of 16 teams hosting a regional. The SEC is set to host half of the regionals across the country. Georgia has already faced a ton of elite SEC competition this season. We don't yet know if Georgia will be in-line to be super regional host (top-eight seed). The NCAA Tournament selection show will be held on Monday, May 26 at noon ET. Georgia has the second-best RPI in the country and is expected to be a top-eight seed according to the latest projections. The Bulldogs have an impressive resume with a 42-15 record. Georgia went 18-12 in the SEC and 29-4 at home, but just 10-10 on the road. Georgia has the most home runs (133) of any team in the country, but has had some pitching struggles at times. Georgia has not lost a series at home all season. The regionals round of the NCAA Tournament begins on Friday, May 30. Georgia will be the top seed in the Athens Regional and will play the fourth seed in the Athens Regional in their opening game. Full list of regional hosts Athens Regional (Georgia) Auburn Regional (Auburn) Austin Regional (Texas) Baton Rouge Regional (LSU) Chapel Hill Regional (North Carolina) Clemson Regional (Clemson) Conway Regional (Coastal Carolina) Corvallis Regional (Oregon State) Eugene Regional (Oregon) Fayetteville Regional (Arkansas) Hattiesburg Regional (Southern Miss) Knoxville Regional (Tennessee) Los Angeles Regional (UCLA) Nashville Regional (Vanderbilt) Oxford Regional (Ole Miss) Tallahassee Regional (Florida State) Please note that this list of regional hosts is in alphabetical order. Athens Regional tickets information Bulldog fans can find Athens Regional tickets at Georgia's official website. Tickets will be available for sale online-only and will start being available on Tuesday, May 27 at 7:00 p.m. ET. Georgia will be making its 15th regional appearance. Last season, Georgia won the Athens Regional, but lost in the Athens Super Regional to NC State. Georgia has not made the College World Series since 2008.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Where does Georgia baseball stand ahead of 2025 NCAA tournament? Latest projections
Georgia baseball's time at the SEC Tournament ended after one game. Now, the Bulldogs await what their path to Omaha and the College World Series looks like. Georgia is a lock for an NCAA regional after going 18-12 in the SEC this season and will enter the NCAA Tournament with a 42-15 record after a 3-2 loss to Oklahoma on Wednesday May 21 in Hoover, Ala. Advertisement Coach Wes Johnson said after the regular season that he thought the Bulldogs would be a top eight national seed, which would assure playing at home through the super regionals if his team advances. Buy Georgia baseball tickets Georgia baseball RPI Georgia was No. 1 in the NCAA's official RPI entering Wednesday's game. Georgia has the No. 6 strength of schedule and entering Wednesday was 11-10 against Quad 1 opponents, 6-3 against Quad 2 teams, 13-1 against Quad 3 teams and 12-0 against Quad 4 opponents. Georgia baseball NCAA tournament projections Baseball America projects Georgia as a No. 4 national seed in the Athens regional in its latest bracket projections released Wednesday. Georgia is the top seed in the regional, with Duke as the No. 2 seed, Stetson as the No. 3 seed and Wright State as the No. 4 seed. Advertisement D1 Baseball this week projected Georgia as a No. 5 national seed and hosting the Athens regional in its latest bracket projections. Georgia is the top seed in the regional, with Wake Forest as the No. 2 seed, East Tennessee State at No. 3 seed and Holy Cross as the No. 4 seed. The Tennessean's Aria Gerson projected Georgia as the No. 6 national seed and hosting in Athens in the latest bracket outlook. Georgia is the top seed in the regional, with Louisville at the No. 2 seed, UConn as the No. 3 seed and Wright State as the No. 4 seed. Georgia baseball tickets Looking to buy Georgia baseball tickets? We've got you covered. Advertisement Buy Georgia baseball tickets NCAA baseball tournament schedule Selection show: Monday, May 26, Noon ET Regionals: May 30-June 2 Super Regionals: June 6-9 College World Series: June 13-23 This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Georgia baseball NCAA tournament projections: Where Bulldogs could land
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Georgia looks in good shape for top 8 national seed. Why that matters so much to Bulldogs
Wes Johnson came to Georgia baseball fresh off tutoring Paul Skenes, the pitcher who helped LSU to a national championship before starting in the MLB All-Star game as a rookie. Before that, he was the pitching coach in the big leagues for the Minnesota Twins. Advertisement Yet his Bulldog teams have risen to prominence in Johnson's two seasons as coach for how they bash balls over the fences. He built his team to thrive in the hitters park that is Foley Field. To feed the trees in the outfield as the merchandise says. That's why No. 8 Georgia winning its series on Saturday May 17 against Texas A&M was big — to all but assure the Bulldogs won't have to be on the road in the NCAA Tournament. Instead the 7-4 victory means the Bulldogs (42-14, 18-12 SEC) are in great shape to stay home. 'Yeah, I think we are,' Johnson said about being a top eight national seed. 'You look at our RPI (No. 1), you look at our nonconference schedule, you look at what we've done at home. We won two road series, we didn't lose a home series. Yeah, I think we are but the committee is doing their stuff.' Advertisement Georgia is 29-4 at Foley where dimensions are oh-so-inviting particularly with the right field line just 314 feet and the left field playing shorter at times then its 350 feet down the line. Henry Hunter homered in the sixth Saturday with a blast to right that stayed inside the foul pole. The catcher stood at the plate with his bat in the air and watched it go over the fence for his ninth home run of the season. Johnson studied the numbers at Foley when he got the job in June of 2023. He said teams that won there were hitting almost three homers a game. 'I immediately said well, this ballpark is built for homers,' Johnson said earlier this season. 'It's almost six homers a game in an SEC weekend was getting averaged at times. So it's like, 'You've got to hit homers to win here.' You guys know, our right field is short, center field plays pretty true. Left field even though it's deep, we get the right wind and it plays short. Those are things I looked at. I said we've got to get guys to hit home runs.' Advertisement Oh, he's got them. Even with generational talent Charlie Condon gone after last season. Georgia leads the nation in home runs with 132, but it also entered Saturday having struck out the most in the SEC at 512. Georgia blasted three homers in a 10-6 win Thursday and was mowed down by Justin Lamkin who threw a complete game shutout with 15 strikeouts Friday. Lefties can be Kryptonite for Georgia. Vanderbilt's JD Thompson struck out 14 against Georgia on April 17. Myles Patton shut out Georgia until the fifth Saturday when Slate Alford smashed a two-run homer. The Bulldogs entered the day hitting .256 against-left-handers, which is down from .265 when Johnson gave the players T-shirts that said 'I Love Hitting Left Handed Pitchers.' Advertisement Johnson said Ryan Black has improved against lefties. Robbie Burnett should be back from a hamstring injury in time for the NCAA Regional. Zaborowski, who played for the first time since April 26 after being out with an elbow injury, had two hits Saturday and hit a towering fly ball in the fifth off Patton but it stayed in the ballpark. 'You just get the length back, man, it puts pressure on people,' Johnson said. Seven Georgia players this year have double digit home runs compared to three each of the previous two seasons before Johnson took over. Georgia had just one player with double digit home runs in 2021. This season five have at least 12: Robbie Burnett with 20, Alford with 17, Ryland Zaborowski with 16 each, Kolby Branch with 13, Daniel Jackson with 12. Advertisement The Bulldogs have thrived at home this season. In the SEC, the Bulldogs went 11-4 at home and 7-8 on the road. That's left some analysts to state that playing at home is crucial for Georgia. 'We know they can swing it. A lot of home runs, a lot of power,' former MLB second baseman Todd Walker said on air on the SEC Network earlier this month. 'I think they've got to play home in Athens to really have a shot to get to Omaha. They play great at home.' Former LSU outfielder Jared Mitchell said in late April on the SEC Network: 'When you watch them play, can they get it done anywhere outside of in Athens? I'm not sure. That's a great place to hit. I'm not sure that pitching that they have travels.' Advertisement Hosting isn't an automatic ticket to Omaha. Georgia was a No. 7 national seed last year and didn't make it to Omaha, losing in three games to N.C. State in the Super Regional. Six of the eight teams that hosted Super Regionals last year advanced to Omaha and five of eight in 2023. 'I push these guys every day that playing at home for a super is the most important thing you can do,' said outfielder Nolan McCarthy who transferred from Kentucky which advanced to its first ever College World Series last year after beating Oregon State at home. 'We played Coach Johnson two years ago at LSU and faced Skenes on a Friday night. You know you're not going to win that Super on the road against Skenes.' Advertisement The numbers in SEC games show what playing at home means to Georgia. The Bulldogs averaged 7.7 runs at home and 6.8 on the road and had 9.3 hits at home and 8.5 on the road. Georgia hit 2.3 homers a game at home and 2.5 on the road, but had three more multi-homer games at home. The Bulldogs hit .270 at home and .251 on the road. 'Playing at home in front of Foley is awesome,' catcher Henry Hunter said. 'That's where we want to play. We're going to do everything in our power to make sure that happens for as long as possible.' This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Georgia baseball wants to cook at home in NCAAs on way to CWS in Omaha
