Georgia Baseball Earns No. 7 Seed in NCAA Tournament, Hosts Athens Regional

The University of Georgia baseball team has secured the No. 7 seed in the 2024 NCAA Tournament and will host the Athens Regional at Foley Field. The Bulldogs will face the No. 2 seed Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the opening round of the regional, while the No. 3 seed Mercer Bears and the No. 4 seed Samford Bulldogs will face off in the other matchup.

Road to the Athens Regional

Georgia earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by winning the 2024 Southeastern Conference (SEC) Tournament in Hoover, Alabama. The Bulldogs defeated the No. 1 seed Vanderbilt Commodores in the championship game, 12-7, to claim their first SEC Tournament title since 2008.

The Bulldogs finished the regular season with a 37-21 record overall and a 19-11 record in SEC play. They won 15 of their last 20 games, including a series sweep of the No. 1-ranked Tennessee Volunteers at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

Opponent Preview: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Georgia Tech secured the No. 2 seed in the Athens Regional with a 38-21 record overall and a 19-12 record in Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) play. The Yellow Jackets finished second in the ACC Coastal Division and reached the semifinals of the ACC Tournament.

Georgia Tech is led by senior catcher Kevin Parada, the reigning ACC Player of the Year. Parada is hitting .360 with 11 home runs and 55 RBIs this season. The Yellow Jackets also have a strong pitching staff, led by sophomore right-hander Chance Huff. Huff is 6-4 with a 3.30 ERA and 113 strikeouts in 87 innings pitched.

Other Teams in the Athens Regional

Mercer earned the No. 3 seed in the Athens Regional with a 35-22 record overall and a 20-7 record in Southern Conference (SoCon) play. The Bears won the SoCon Tournament championship and have won 13 of their last 15 games.

Samford secured the No. 4 seed in the Athens Regional with a 32-25 record overall and a 15-15 record in Southern Conference (SoCon) play. The Bulldogs finished third in the SoCon Tournament and have won five of their last seven games.

Regional Format and Schedule

The Athens Regional is a double-elimination tournament. The winner of the regional will advance to the Super Regional round. The regional will be played from Friday, June 2nd, to Monday, June 5th.

The schedule for the Athens Regional is as follows:

Friday, June 2nd:
- Game 1: No. 7 Georgia vs. No. 2 Georgia Tech (3:00 PM ET)
- Game 2: No. 3 Mercer vs. No. 4 Samford (7:00 PM ET)
Saturday, June 3rd:
- Game 3: Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 (3:00 PM ET)
- Game 4: Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2 (7:00 PM ET)
Sunday, June 4th:
- Game 5: Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4 (3:00 PM ET)
- Game 6: Loser of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4 (7:00 PM ET)
Monday, June 5th:
- Game 7: Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 6 (if necessary)

Georgia's Outlook

Georgia is looking to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament and earn a spot in the College World Series. The Bulldogs have a strong team led by junior outfielder Connor Tate, who is hitting .330 with 15 home runs and 60 RBIs this season. Georgia also has a solid pitching staff, led by senior right-hander Liam Sullivan. Sullivan is 10-3 with a 3.25 ERA and 110 strikeouts in 87 innings pitched.

The Bulldogs will have the home-field advantage in the Athens Regional, which should give them a boost. However, they will face a tough challenge in Georgia Tech, who is a talented team with a strong pitching staff. The other two teams in the regional, Mercer and Samford, are not to be overlooked either.

Georgia is hoping to make the most of its opportunity and advance to the Super Regional round. If the Bulldogs can play to their potential, they have a good chance of reaching the College World Series for the first time since 2008.