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BSB: Dawgs Will Travel to Auburn for Top Five Showdown Beginning Tonight
For the second time this season, Southeastern Conference champion Georgia will have a top-five SEC showdown on the road as the Bulldogs face No. 4 Auburn Thursday night. First pitch is scheduled for 8:02 p.m. ET and will be available on the SEC Network and the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network.
Game two of the series will be Friday at 8 p.m. ET (SEC Network), while the series concludes Saturday with first pitch set for 3 p.m. ET (SECN+). Earlier this year, Georgia, ranked as high as No. 4 this week, swept No. 5 Mississippi State in Starkville.
*The Bulldogs (41-11, 21-6 SEC) face the third group of Tigers (35-15, 16-11 SEC) in league play after posting back-to-back sweeps of Missouri and LSU the past two weekends in Athens. Georgia is riding a season-high nine-game winning streak. AU leads the series 152-139-3 dating to 1897. Last year, Georgia swept the Tigers in Athens (4-1, 11-7 and 9-6 in 10). Georgia last visited AU in 2023 and dropped the series 2-1. Georgia’s last series win at AU came in 2019 (2-1).
*Georgia clinched the 2026 SEC title with four games left in the regular season and has tallied 21 SEC wins up to this point. The Bulldogs joined a select group of SEC Championship teams that registered 21 or more SEC wins after nine weeks of league play since the conference went to a 30-game slate in 1996. Along with the Bulldogs (21-6), there were Tennessee (22-5 in 2022), Vanderbilt (24-2 in 2013), South Carolina (22-5 in 2000) and LSU (21-5 in 1997). Vandy and LSU both had a rainout in week eight of the seasons above.
*Georgia has tied the school record for SEC wins with 21. The Bulldogs are 9-3 in SEC road action and 12-3 at home. In 2019,Georgia finished second in the SEC at 21-9 as Vandy won the league at 23-7.
*The Bulldogs won their first four SEC series (2-1 over #21 UT, 2-1 @ #21 Texas A&M, 3-0 over USC, 3-0 @ #5 MSU) and then dropped one at home to No. 21 UF (2-1). The second half of the SEC slate began with a road series win over No. 14 Arkansas (2-1) followed by another on the road over No. 17 Ole Miss (2-1). Then, Georgia swept Mizzou and LSU in Athens and now finishes at No.4 Auburn.
*Georgia leads the NCAA with 140 Home Runs and is second and is second in Scoring at 9.7 runs/game. The Bulldogs have an SEC-best .328 Batting Average, ranking fourth nationally. Also, Georgia has a .984 Fielding Percentage, which is sixth nationally.
Daniel Jackson Aims to Join the Elite 25-25 Club
*Georgia junior catcher Daniel Jackson, a National Player of the Year candidate batting .384 with 25 home runs, 74 RBI and 24 stolen bases, aims to become just the sixth player (and first catcher) in NCAA Division 1 history to have 25 home runs and 25 stolen bases in a season. The last to do it was UNC outfielder Vance Honeycutt (28-28) in 2024. Currently, there are only two players in NCAA Division 1 that have hit at least 20 HR and 20 SB this year: Jackson and Farleigh Dickinson sophomore OF Hunter Ray (27-23).
*Jackson is the first catcher in SEC history to post a 20-20 season and just the fifth overall player in the history of the league. Before Jackson, the last SEC player to register a 20-20 season was Arkansas outfielder Andrew Benintendi (20-24) in 2015 when he swept all the national honors.
Jackson, Phelps and Lujo Headline Offense
*Jackson ranks in the top five nationally in Home Runs (25), Total Bases (166), RBI (74) and Runs Scored (71). He is on the Midseason Watch Lists for the Golden Spikes Award and the Buster Posey Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award. At #14 Arkansas, he tied a school record by hitting three home runs in a game. He hit .429 with seven RBI in the road series win over the Razorbacks to earn SEC Co-Player of the Week honors. He followed that up by hitting .400-1-3 plus 3 SB in a road series win over #17 Ole Miss. In SEC action, Jackson is batting .373-9-30.
*Junior 3B Tre Phelps (.372-17-47) ranks second in the nation with a school record 30 Hit-By-Pitches. He is fifth in Runs Scored (70). Earlier this year, Jackson had a team-best 21-game hitting streak, while Phelps carried one over from last year that stretched to 27 games, one shy of the school record.
*Sophomore CF Rylan Lujo (.361-8-36) leads the league with a .402 batting average in SEC games, and he’s got a .670 slugging percentage in SEC action too.
Georgia-Auburn Pitching Rotation
Game 1: Joey Volchko (7-2, 4.41 ERA), RHP, Jr., vs. Jake Marciano (4-4, 2.71 ERA), LHP, So.
Game 2: Dylan Vigue (4-1, 2.79 ERA), RHP, Jr., vs. Andreas Alvarez (8-2, 2.66 ERA), RHP, So.
Game 3: TBA vs. Alex Petrovic (8-2, 3.15 ERA), RHP, RSo.
Top Bullpen Options: Aoki, Byrd and Scott, Plus Farley and Brown
*Georgia’s trio of graduate Caden Aoki, redshirt junior Justin Byrd and senior Matt Scott have been the backbone of the bullpen. In relief appearances, they are a combined 10-2 with a 3.62 ERA and 12 saves in 40 relief appearances over a span of 107 IP (43 ER).
Overall and bullpen only stats are listed below:
*Aoki (8-0, 3.20 ERA, 3 SV); R: 3-0, 3.19 ERA, 3 SV, 31 IP, 11 ER, 44K, 13BB
*Byrd (3-2, 4.21 ERA, 6 SV); R: 3-2, 4.39 ERA, 6 SV, 43 IP, 21 ER, 58K, 9BB
*Scott (6-0, 4.24 ERA, 3 SV); R: 4-0, 3.00 ERA, 3 SV, 33 IP, 11 ER, 38K, 21BB
*Also of note, redshirt sophomore Paul Farley (6-1, 5.06 ERA, 1 SV) and junior Zach Brown (2-0, 3.54 ERA) have proven to be versatile as either firemen in short stints, providing long relief or even a spot start.
Tuesday Media Session: Auburn Series Preview
Ike Cousins Head Baseball Coach Wes Johnson
On belief and building that with the team…
“I think it is this – everybody has a talent gap that they need to close in on. When you get to a certain level of talent, it is at least 75% when you get to that talented level. You look at our league, and this is what I tell our players. This is the Southeastern Conference. This is the best league in college baseball. Everybody has talent. What separates teams? A majority of the team it is belief in our process, your approach and how you compete. I put it pretty high. I would put it up there around 75%.”
On staying focused and taking on a top-five team in Auburn…
“The message today is really simple. Auburn is coming, and they want to put something on their wall that says they took down the SEC Champions. Are you going to go in there and compete? I don’t think focus this week will be an issue. There is enough out there for me to talk to our players about from a standpoint of, ‘you need to finish strong’ for a lot of reasons. You need to be playing your best baseball at the end of the year. You want to find ways to challenge yourself, get better and do hard things.”
Joey Volchko | Jr. | RHP
On belief in ability…
“I’ve had that belief since I got here. That’s why I came here. I believe in Coach Wes [Johnson] and what he’s doing and how he wants us all to develop and believe in ourselves. I think that’s come from a long time of just believing in our process and what he’s doing. It’s something that we just had to reemphasize, and I think that we’ve always had it.”
On settling down in starts…
“I think there are starts where I have great first innings, others not so much. I think it’s just important to roll with the punches, be relentless and just trying to find any way you can to win. If they get to you early, you have to make sure you go deep, especially to save the bullpen for the rest of the series, and that’s my job as a game one starter.”
Michael O’Shaughnessy | Sr. | 1B/3B
On taking each game one at a time…
“I think it’s been a big part all year. We’ve had some games where we lose game one and come back for the next two and win. It shows that regardless of the outcome of the game, you just have to come at it one game at a time, and that’s what we’ve been doing all year.”
On what makes the team special…
“This team’s a special team. I think the biggest thing is that we’re a family, and as we get further into the season, we have gotten closer, and the bond that we have is unbreakable. That’s definitely the biggest strength of this team. We’re all just a family and we play for each other.”
About Auburn
*The fourth-ranked Tigers, coached by Butch Thompson, are batting .299 with 64 home runs and 68 stolen bases in 84 attempts. AU is fielding .976. The Tigers have a 3.50 ERA with 511 strikeouts and 131 walks. Opponents are batting .231. They lost 4-1 at No. 25 Jacksonville State this past Tuesday. Last week, they won a road series 2-1 over #10 MSU and now have won their last six SEC series. AU is 20-8 at home, including 7-5 in SEC action.
*Did You Know? Coach Thompson served as Georgia’s pitching coach from 2002 to 2005. The 2004 Bulldogs were SEC co-champions that beat Ga. Tech in a Super Regional in Atlanta and finished tied for third at the CWS.
*Did You Know, Part Two? When Thompson left MSU to become head coach at Auburn in 2016, State hired Wes Johnson as its pitching coach.
Radio/TV
Thursday @ 8 p.m. ET (SEC Network)
Radio: 960TheRef (Jeff Dantzler & David Johnston): https://georgiadogs.com/watch/?Live=5006
SECN (Tom Hart, Kyle Person & Chris Burke): https://www.espn.com/watch/schedule/_/type/upcoming/categoryId/e364bfcd-493d-3bfb-ac83-bd27d66fedd0
Live Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=629950
Friday @ 8 p.m. ET (SEC Network)
Radio: 960TheRef (Jeff Dantzler & David Johnston): https://georgiadogs.com/watch/?Live=5007&type=Live
SECN (Tom Hart, Kyle Person & Chris Burke): https://www.espn.com/watch/schedule/_/type/upcoming/categoryId/e364bfcd-493d-3bfb-ac83-bd27d66fedd0
Live Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=629951
Saturday @ 3 pm ET (SECN+)
Radio: 960TheRef (Jeff Dantzler & David Johnston): https://georgiadogs.com/watch/?Live=5008&type=Live
SECN+ (JJ Jackson & Mark Fuller): https://www.espn.com/watch/schedule/_/type/upcoming/categoryId/e364bfcd-493d-3bfb-ac83-bd27d66fedd0
Live Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=629952
Kolby Branch Named to the 2026 Southeastern Conference Baseball Community Service Team
University of Georgia senior shortstop Kolby Branch has been named to the 2026 Southeastern Conference Baseball Community Service team, the league announced Wednesday.
Branch, a four-year starting shortstop from Lucas, Texas, is a team leader who helps organize community service for UGA student-athletes as a member of S.A.A.C. (Student-Athlete Advisory Committee). This season, Branch was part of a group of Bulldogs who partnered with ESP (Extra Special People) and the Miracle League. He participated in the Spooky Dawgs benefitting the Clarke County Mentor Program. Branch was inducted in Georgia’s Leadership Academy in the fall of 2025. He has served as a speaker at the Dawgs Choice Awards.
On the field, Branch has started all 52 games and posted a .310 batting average, 14 doubles, 16 home runs and 48 RBI. He is fielding .972 for the Bulldogs who are 41-11 overall and 21-6 in the SEC.
In a continuing effort to recognize the accomplishments of student-athletes beyond the field of competition, the SEC has highlighted a Community Service Team for baseball for the 2026 season. The conference names a Community Service Team for each of its 22 league-sponsored sports, looking to highlight an athlete from each school who gives back to his community through superior service efforts.
The SEC Champion Bulldogs close out the regular season with a three-game series against Auburn in a top five showdown starting Thursday at Plainsman Park. First pitch will be at 8:02 p.m. ET and be available on the SEC Network and the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network.
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