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BSB: NCAA Athens Regional Begins Today

The Georgia Bulldogs, the number three national seed for the NCAA Tournament, are set to face Long Island tonight in the NCAA Athens Regional at Foley Field. 

*First pitch will be at 5:06 p.m. and be available on the SEC Network and the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network. The Sharks are 30-20 and earned a bid by winning the Northeast Conference. The first game of the regional will feature Boston College (36-21) versus Liberty (41-19) at 2:06 p.m. (ESPN+).

*Georgia (46-12, 23-7 SEC), ranked as high as No. 2 nationally this week, won the Southeastern Conference regular season title as well as the SEC Tournament title. The Bulldogs are in their third season under head coach Wes Johnson, who is in his third season, and have been a top-eight national seed each year of his tenure. 

*Georgia leads the NCAA with 149 Home Runs and ranks second with a .615 Slugging Percentage and fourth in Scoring at 9.1 runs/game. The Bulldogs have an SEC-best .325 batting average, which ranks fourth nationally. Also, Georgia has a .984 Fielding Percentage, which is sixth nationally.  

*Georgia has won 14 of its past 15 games. The Bulldogs are 31-7 at home this year. In school history, Georgia is 0-1 against LIU (lost 1-0 in 2019 regular season), 8-2 against Liberty, and has never faced Boston College.

*The Bulldogs are 56-38 all-time in 15 NCAA Tournaments, including 37-22 in NCAA Regionals. Georgia has won seven regionals, four super regionals and made six trips to the College World Series, winning it in 1990 (first SEC team to do it) and finishing second in its last trip in 2008.

*Georgia is hosting an NCAA regional for the third straight year and ninth time in school history. It was a No. 7 national seed the previous two years, going 3-0 to win it in 2024 and then 1-2 last season.

*Junior All-SEC C Daniel Jackson (.391-27-79, 25 SB) ranks in the top five nationally in Home Runs (27), Total Bases (183), RBI (79), Slugging Percentage (.813) and Runs Scored (77). He is a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award, the Dick Howser Trophy and the Buster Posey Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award. He is a finalist for Baseball America College Player of the Year. Jackson was named the SEC Player of the Year and 1st Team All-SEC by the league coaches. Last week, he was named the SEC Tournament MVP and to the All-Tournament team as the Bulldogs captured their first-ever SEC Tournament title.

*All-SEC junior 3B Tre Phelps (.376-18-55), a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy, bats leadoff with a .491 on base percentage and ranks second in the nation with a school record 32 Hit-By-Pitches.

*Sophomore All-SEC CF Rylan Lujo (.369-9-38) ranked second in the SEC with a .394 batting average in league games. Lujo, Jackson, plus 1B/C Brennan Hudson (.259-17-45) and OF/LHP Kenny Ishikawa (.362-1-15) were named to the SEC All-Tournament Team, too.

*The Bulldogs will start right-hander Joey Volchko (9-2, 4.18 ERA). Georgia’s team ERA is 4.99 with 594 strikeouts and 250 walks in 492.1 innings. Opponents are hitting .244 against the Bulldogs. LIU will be starting junior Nicholas Finarelli (9-2, 4.96 ERA).

*Georgia’s SEC rotation featured junior right-handers Joey Volchko (9-2, 4.18 ERA) and Dylan Vigue (4-1, 4.77 ERA), while the game three starter of late has been graduate right-hander Caden Aoki (8-1, 4.07 ERA, 3 SV). The top relievers have been senior RHP Matt Scott (6-0, 3.72 ERA, 5 SV), redshirt sophomore RHP Paul Farley (8-1, 4.53 ERA, 1 SV), redshirt junior RHP Justin Byrd (4-2, 4.38 ERA, 6 SV) and junior RHP Zach Brown (2-0, 3.06 ERA, 1 SV).

Radio/TV/Live Stats
Friday @ 7:06 p.m. ET (SEC Network)
Radio: 960TheRef (Jeff Dantzler & David Johnston): https://georgiadogs.com/watch/?Live=5029

SEC Network (Dave Neal & Gordon Beckham): https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/97f1014b-a011-46b7-8303-88fb83c29a24

Live Stats: https://www.ncaa.com/game/6599734

Foley Field In 2026
·       Foley Field Gates Open 1 hour before first pitch 
·       Tickets –Sold Out; Available on SeatGeek: https://seatgeek.com/georgia-bulldogs-baseball-tickets

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