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By Olivia Sayer
Georgia senior Corey Collins (6) celebrates home run during game four of the NCAA Athens Regional between UNCW and Georgia at Foley Field in Athens, Georgia, on Saturday, June 1, 2024. Georgia won 11-2. (Photo/Mady Mertens; MadyMertensPhotography)
The NCAA Super Regionals are returning to Foley Field.
For the first time in 16 years, Georgia baseball is set to host a Super Regional. The Bulldogs will face NC State in a best of three series beginning Saturday at noon. The winner will advance to the College World Series in Omaha. Prior to the matchup, head coach Wes Johnson provided updates on the Bulldogs.
The matchup
Both teams are led by their offenses, but the Bulldogs and Wolfpack use different approaches. Georgia’s strength is the long ball, while NC State, who has 89 home runs this season, does the majority of its damage with the small ball. That being said, the ball was flying in batting practice Friday afternoon and could be a sign of things to come.
“I think it’s going to be a shootout,” SEC Player of the Year Charlie Condon said of NC State’s scouting report. “It’s going to be really fun, just a lot of good ball players all over the field. I’m really excited to get started.”
Corey Collins and Condon combine for a 1-2 punch at the top of Georgia’s lineup, but the Bulldogs do not lack depth.
“Nobody’s a one man team,” NC State head coach Elliott Avent said. “Talk about the [1927] Yankees, you talk about Babe Ruth, the next name you want to say is Lou Gehrig— you think they didn’t have people up and down that lineup? There’s never a one or two-man wrecking crew. Georgia’s got a great ball club up and down the lineup.”
Georgia’s offense will be opposed by a Wolfpack rotation that is headlined by graduate righthander Sam Highfill. In 2021, Highfill two-hit Vanderbilt across 7.1 innings in the College World Series.
NC State also has a couple of freshman arms in Jacob Dudan and Cooper Consiglio that work out of the bullpen. Johnsons said he “really likes” their raw stuff.
Georgia’s game one starter is Kolten Smith. The sophomore righthander exited his Regional start against UNC-Wilmington early due to cramping. However, after the game Johnson said Smith might pitch again that weekend. Heading into the Super Regional, Johnson said Smith is “fine.”
Charlie Goldstein, who was hampered by injury for the majority of the season, will not be on the Super Regional roster.
The Georgia German Shepherds
When senior pitcher Brandt Pancer walked into Georgia’s locker room with a celebratory dog mask, Johnson only had one question.
“When did we become the German Shepherds,” Johnson laughed. “I thought we were the Bulldogs.”
The German Shepherd dog mask is what Georgia dons after hitting a home run. With 145 long balls this season, the prop has no shortage of usage.
“We might have to run it through the wash here before too long,” Condon, who leads the country with 36 home runs, said. “It surprisingly doesn’t stink that bad yet. But I think the more we use it, the more you put it on your head to do its purpose and then you take it off pretty quick.”
According to Collins, freshman Tre Phelps “fell in love with” the prop. After hitting a blast in Georgia’s Regional win against Georgia Tech, Phelps used the mask for a celebration reminiscent of Elijah Moore’s in the 2019 Egg Bowl. Prior in the season, Phelps was one of the first Bulldogs to wear the piece.
“Just figured the hitters needed a little bit more morale,” Phelps said after Georgia beat Kennesaw State in the mask’s inaugural game. “Hit the ball hard, get a little bit of altitude on the balls today.
It’s sufficient to say the prop worked, as Georgia is third in the nation for home runs with six Bulldogs in double digits. The celebration also helps Georgia stay loose during pressure-filled situations such as the Super Regional.
“I want our guys to have fun,” Johnson said. “We have enough serious things in life we have to deal with on a daily basis.”
Not a rebuilding year
When Johnson accepted the Georgia job a year ago, many believed he was hired to rebuild a program. Rather than spend multiple years on a rebuild, Johnson used the transfer portal to build a team that is 32-5 at Foley Field.
“I heard the term so many times when I got here about [rebuilding],” Johnson said. “You don’t have to rebuild, but you can go out — and if you do your due diligence and run your models — you can find a team that can win in your ballpark.”
The belief in winning was something Johnson instilled from the moment he stepped on campus. In one of his first sit down interviews, Johnson said that his No. 1 rule was that players better believe in themselves. Despite the team’s success, the rule never wavered.
“The biggest thing that [Johnson] tells us all the time,” Collins said. “You shouldn’t be nervous or antsy about what’s going to happen. You should be able to go out there, have fun, let everything loose and be happy with it. Because if we believe in ourselves, have fun and enjoy and look around with the brothers, the scoreboard will take care of itself.”
Georgia’s loose but focused playing style secured it a spot in the Super Regional for the first time since 2008, when it beat NC State to advance to the College World Series. Beginning on Saturday, the Bulldogs will have a chance to replicate history.