Georgia feeling rested, ready to go for NCAA Tournament
ATHENS, Ga. — In recent years at Georgia, Memorial Day, a.k.a. “Selection Monday” in the world of College Baseball, has been spent sweating out a bracket selection to see if the Bulldogs were in the field of 64. Of course the 2020 tournament didn’t happen because of COVID, but in 2021 and 2023, UGA was left on the outside looking in. In 2022, Georgia made it but was sent to Chapel Hill for a regional and was bounced before the regional final. This year, things were different.
Georgia was announced as a regional host on Sunday night. Instead of waiting to find out if they’d make it at all, Monday was spent watching the bracket reveal to see if they would be a top-8 national seed. When Georgia’s name popped up beside the No. 7 seed, head coach Wes Johnson wasn’t surprised.
“There’s a lot of things I look at,” Johnson said. “We did a lot of good stuff this year. The regular season, it’s over, but we beat a Clemson team here that was really good, I go all the way back to Northern Kentucky, they won their conference tournament and are going to give some people some fits, and then Georgia Tech is in, we took two from them, you go through the league and sweeping Alabama, sweeping Vanderbilt, sweeping South Carolina on the road, all three of those teams are in the tournament.”
“You look at our total body of work, and I’m not on the committee and I’m not hear to say somebody should’ve or shouldn’t have gotten it, but I felt pretty good about our resume.”
The national seed gives Georgia the ability to play at home for as long as its winning, at least until heading to Omaha for the College World Series. Foley Field is a place the Bulldogs have been comfortable, going 29-5 at home including a 14-2 mark against teams that made the NCAA Tournament.
“It’s huge. If we take care of business and do what we’re supposed to do, we’re going to be in Athens until it’s over or you get to Omaha, and that’s big,” Johnson said. “Our guys love playing in our ballpark, you want to play at home with the comfort and everything of that nature. And then obviously on the recruiting side, being able to see where you program is is big too.”
Along with finding out it was a national seed, Georgia also learned who will be in its regional. Joined at Foley Field by UNC-Wilmington, Georgia Tech and Army, the Bulldogs will look to advance out of the double-elimination format for the first time since 2008. If they do so, the Dawgs would host the winner of the Raleigh Regional that features NC State, South Carolina, James Madison and Bryant for a best-of-three series at Foley Field the following weekend.
Only adding to the comfort Georgia should feel entering the weekend, the Bulldogs should be well rested. By the time they play on Friday, it will have been 10 days since they last played, losing in the opening round of the SEC Tournament to eventual runner-up LSU. Johnson admitted that was something his team, especially his pitchers needed to recharge.
“We needed it. We were tired. We’ve obviously been working out some, and just from the stuff I’ve seen from our pitching staff, I was like, ‘Wow, okay,'” Johnson said. “Sometimes at the time you think the loss is extremely bad and you’re mad and there’s a lot of things you aren’t happy with because you lost, but I think it was on Sunday when you look at the break and our guys’ ability to get our legs back underneath them, our pitchers need a little reset and we got it. Hopefully we’ll be able to carry that momentum into Friday.”
Johnson joked that for as much as his players needed rest, he hopes his coaching staff got as much or more. They’re going to need it with the amount of work that’s ahead of them the next few days to get ready for Friday.
Between now and then, they’ll have to decide on a weekend rotation and figure out a best approach to opponent pitching matchups as well with scouting. Combining all the factors of playing at home, rest and having been tested throughout the season already, Johnson feels his team is ready.
“Experience should bring calm to the table, but that’s really all it is,” Johnson said when asked about how he anticipates the select few players with NCAA Tournament experience chipping in to helping their teammates that haven’t seen what’s ahead. “Games are different. Players are different. Teams are different. It’s really more about just, ‘Relax, and play your game.'”
A complete schedule for the Athens Regional will be available this afternoon. Tickets will go on sale starting Thursday at https://georgiadogs.evenue.net/list/BBS, or by phone (706-542-1231 or 877-542-1231) or in the UGA Ticket Office located in the Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall.
*All-Session Reserved Seats: $75*All-Session General Admission Seats: $50*Single Game Reserved: $15*Single Game General Admission: $10*College Students: $5
NOTES AND QUOTES
*** Johnson said that playing against Army on Friday will be a little bit different of a look than what Georgia has seen recently. Obviously focused on other aspects than just simply baseball when recruiting, the Black Knights won’t bring the same kind of velocity to the table on the mound.
“They can really pitch. They mix their pitches well. They’ve got a couple of guys hitting over .300, especially right there in the middle of the order who have hit 14/15 homers. They’ve got four or five guys who can steal some bases. They’re going to be able to bunt. They’re going to do a lot of things.”
*** Johnson didn’t want to get into matchups his team might not see but knows both UNC-Wilmington and Georgia Tech are formidable opponents. UNC-Wilmington knocked off a talented Wake Forest team in a midweek matchup earlier this season. They also took two from NC State, a regional host, and squared off against North Carolina, East Carolina and Coastal Carolina – all three of whom are in the NCAA Tournament. It is the Seahawks’ second straight appearance and 12th in program history (all since 2003). They are no stranger to the postseason. As for Georgia Tech, Georgia took two from the Yellow Jackets earlier in the season and was ahead in a third that was called off due to rain. Like Georgia, Georgia Tech missed the NCAA Tournament last year but has been here before. In fact, the Bulldogs and Yellow Jackets have shared a regional on a few different occasions including 2008 when UGA took two from its rival in the regional final to advance.
“UNC-Wilmington is extremely offensive. They always have been. They’re going to be really good, have two really good starters on the mound and obviously have a couple of bullpen pieces. They’re really good, and then Georgia Tech, we played them. I thought Georgia Tech got better as the year went on so quite frankly, I’ll have to completely go back and watch Georgia Tech like we never played them.”
*** Georgia remains in wait-and-see mode with Charlie Goldstein. The veteran lefty who acted as UGA’s ace when healthy this season exited after 2.2 innings in his last appearance versus Vanderbilt. Johnson cited a tricep cramp and expected him to be “fine,” but Goldstein did not appear in either of the final two regular season series or the SEC Tournament.
“We’ll see. He’s been back to the doctor and everything came back clean, but they do things with him and put him into a protocol. We’ll just have to see. Not any mound work yet but he’s been playing catch.”
UGA NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
NCAA Tournament Appearances (16): 1953, 1954, 1987, 1990, 1992, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2024NCAA Regional Host (7): 2001, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2018, 2019, 2024NCAA Regional Champions (6): 1987 (Northeast Regional – Atlanta, Ga.), 1990 (Northeast Regional – Waterbury, CT), 2001 (Athens), 2004 (Athens), 2006 (Athens), 2008 (Athens)College World Series Appearances (6): 1987, 1990, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2008College World Series Runner-Up (1): 2008NCAA Tournament Champions (1): 1990
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