An unfortunate ending to an incredible season. As Georgia earned the No. 7 national seed, the Bulldogs welcomed Duke, Oklahoma State and Binghamton to Foley Field for the Athens Regional. The Blue Devils upset Georgia with a 6-3 win on Saturday. Oklahoma State then eliminated Georgia on a walk-off home run on Sunday afternoon. Despite the hapless, early exit, it should go without saying that the future of Georgia baseball is bright in the hands of head coach Wes Johnson. 

Coming off a Super Regional host in 2024, Johnson and the Bulldogs lost some major offensive contributors to the MLB in Golden Spikes Award winner Charlie Condon and second team All-American Corey Collins. With big shoes to fill, Johnson, a former pitching coach, went to the portal and got some incredible talent to fill the batting order holes. Leighton Finley and Kolten Smith headlined returning pitchers while VCU transfer Brian Curley looked to be a major contributor as well. The Bulldogs seemed to have a roster that could pick up right where they left off the ‘24 campaign. 

The bats got hot quickly. First team All-SEC third baseman Slate Alford dropped some weight ahead of the 2025 season and came into the year scorching hot. Senior transfers Robbie Burnett and Ryland Zaborowski became forces to be reckoned with, and sophomore Tre Phelps was on track to continue his success from his freshman season. 

The Dinger Dawgs were alive and well, but the pitching staff was… well… dead, quite frankly. An experienced pitching coach at the college and pro level, Johnson took serious criticism from the Georgia faithful and media. How could a coach with such a gleaming resume not have a strong bullpen?

Non-conference play wrapped up and league play began. The bats were still thriving, but the pitching still struggled. 

Then, the bats started dipping as the pitching got better. Despite the ups and downs, Georgia remained a consistent top 10 team in all major polls, even earning multiple top three rankings in the weekly updated polls. 

Furthermore, question marks loomed heavily over Foley Field as the postseason began, especially after the Bulldogs outing in Hoover for the SEC Tournament…

As the No. 5 seed, Georgia secured a first round bye, but a second round date with Oklahoma saw the Bulldogs get absolutely shut down. Sooner pitcher Kyson WItherspoon is a projected top 15 MLB Draft pick and one of the best arms in college baseball. The future MLB star sent Georgia home with a 3-2 abysmal loss. 

Despite the poor showing in the conference tournament, Georgia earned a top eight national seed, finishing the regular season 42-14 with an 18-12 league record. The Diamond Dawgs were 30-6 at home and 10-10 away, so an Athens Regional and guaranteed home super regional with a win seemed to be a huge positive… think again.

Those aforementioned doubts became facts two weekends ago. 

In the first game of the NCAA Tournament, Georgia throttled Binghamton 20-4. Lackluster pitching from the Bearcats was evident. Enter the Blue Devils and their left-handed pitcher Kyle Johnson in game two of the regional. Georgia was significantly worse against left-handed pitchers throughout the regular season, and once again, it showed against the Blue Devils’ stud sophomore as Duke vanquished Georgia 6-3.

Win or stay home for the Dawgs come Sunday afternoon. The opposing Cowboys of Oklahoma State took a game one loss to Duke followed by a convincing win over Binghamton in the losers bracket. One of the best leftys in college, Harrison Bodendorf, hit the bump for the Cowboys. Struggling against southpaws all year, things were not looking up for Georgia entering Sunday’s matchup. 

Not so fast… Slate Alford and Christian Adams knocked two homers for the Dawgs, and Georgia led 7-3 in the top of the fifth, forcing the Cowboys to make a pitching change. A four-run rally from Oklahoma State tied the game, but one run in each of the seventh and eighth innings put the Dawgs back in front 9-7. A two-run lead with three outs to go… the Georgia defense could hold on and stay alive.

Tyler McLoughlin gave up a leadoff, four-pitch walk. With the tying run at the plate, McLoughlin gave up a two-run bomb to Kollin Ritchie… tie game, no outs, McLoughlin pulled. The hard-throwing Georgia Southern transfer Zach Harris entered, giving up a single in his first batter faced. Then, a two-strike foul bunt retired Oklahoma State’s Ian Daugherty… one out. Alex Conover hit a tough infield grounder. The Georgia defense made the play at second and Harris covered first. The ball got to the bag in time, but Harris’ foot was off the bag… two outs, runner on first. Freshman Brock Thompson then bombed a two-run blast, walking off Georgia and ending the Bulldogs’ season. 

Here’s what we know looking forward to 2026:

Wes Johnson knows the portal game. College athletics are an entirely new ballgame with the transfer portal and NIL as we well know. Johnson took a portal approach to the offseason and did it well, getting talent from around the country to Athens. He’s done just that yet again in the 10 days since the season ended, grabbing nine dudes from the portal already. The portal additions are headlined by graduate right hander Caden Aoki from USC, who went 6-4 in 2025 with a 3.99 ERA and 90 strikeouts to just 14 walks in 97 innings pitched. Huge get for Georgia. 

Wes Johnson is a pitching coach at heart. Despite the outside noise of poorly managing the bullpen in the Athens Regional and not having a consistent bullpen throughout the 2025 campaign, Johnson has coached at all levels and created some monsters on the bump, i.e. Paul Skenes (LSU), Kenta Maeda (Minnesota Twins), Blaine Knight (Arkansas), etc. Considering Georgia’s pitching struggles and hitting dominance in Johnson’s two years with Georgia, you might think his coaching prowess has flipped to hitting. However, entering his third year, the skipper will continue to call pitches and work toward creating a dangerous pitching staff in 2026. If there is one coach that can do it in college baseball, it is the Bulldogs’ head man.

Here’s what we don’t know looking forward to 2026:

Georgia loses a ton of production on offense, so who fills in? Georgia’s home run leader Robbie Burnett, All-SEC third baseman Slate Alford and other offensive impact players like Ryland Zaborowski, Nolan McCarthy, Devin Obee and Henry Hunter wrapped up their time in Athens, leaving holes in the nation’s home run leading lineup. Zaborowski smashed 17 homers and led the team in batting average at .371 while Alford was a force at the plate and one of the best fielding third basemen in the nation. Hunter was a consistent defensive weapon at catcher and a clutch hitter. Johnson did it last year, replacing Charlie Condon and Corey Collins, but can he fill a batting order again? 

What will non-senior Draft eligible players do? Despite having just two years in college under his belt, sophomore Tre Phelps has the opportunity to enter the 2025 MLB Draft per his age. Phelps closed out 2024 on a hot streak at the plate. Looking to pick up where he left off, Phelps struggled in 2025 thanks to a midseason injury. Furthermore, in his last four games of 2025, Phelps had a .529 batting average with two homers, two doubles and a triple. Are his stats good enough to get him to the league or did a sophomore slump cost him his MLB Draft stock? Does he want to take his late momentum into the 2026 season with Georgia and avenge the early exit? 

Kolby Branch is another Dawg Georgia would love to hold onto for his senior season. The consistent hitter is one of the best fielding shortstops in baseball. In 2024, Branch broke the Georgia record for the most grand slams in a season with four. Branch is a get-on-base, clutch bat in the box when the team needs him most. Is Branch’s Draft stock high enough to entice him, or will he return to Athens for one last go-round in the red and black? 

Alton Davis, Leighton Finley and Kolten Smith are key pitchers. All of them are juniors and can enter the Draft as well. Finley was the most consistent go-to guy in the staff as Sunday’s regular starter. Smith entered the season as one of the hottest names in college baseball after his summer with USA Baseball. Davis is a hard-throwing lefty reliever with a tall, lanky frame that seems very MLB-able. Do these guys have what it takes as juniors to turn pro, or will they return to Athens and lead the next pitching staff of 2026?