There was an NCAA regional feel to Saturday’s final regular-season game against Texas A&M, one that Georgia needed to win to feel good about its status as a national top-eight seed.
After the team's 7-5 victory over the Aggies, the Bulldogs can seemingly exhale.
With the victory, Georgia improves to 42-14, but more importantly, moves to 18- 12 in the SEC. Historically, 18 conference wins have been the threshold for SEC teams earning a top eight seed and the right to host through the Super Regionals.
Considering the Bulldogs are also the nation’s top team in terms of RPI, it would seem Saturday’s win puts Georgia in excellent shape to host through the Super Regionals for the second year in a row.
Head coach Wes Johnson certainly believes so.
“Yeah, I think we are. You look at our RPI, you look at our non-conference schedule, you look at what we've done at home (29-4), you look at our 1-2 road series; we didn't lose a home series. I think we are, but you know, it's the committee. Our committee's going to do their stuff, and we've got to trust and believe in that process,” Johnson said. “But like I told our guys, we're just going to go play baseball. We're going to take tomorrow off and regroup back on Monday, get ready to go to Hoover, and see if we can play for a little while.”
Georgia will be the fifth seed in the single-elimination SEC Tournament, which gets underway on Tuesday in Hoover. The Bulldogs will play the winner of No. 12 seed Oklahoma (33-19) and No. 13 seed Kentucky (29-23) on Wednesday at approximately 1 p.m. Central Time.
The winner will play No. 4 seed Vanderbilt on Thursday at approximately 1 p.m. CT.
However, there’s still a chance the Bulldogs can finish in the top four and earn a double bye if LSU loses Saturday’s game at South Carolina. If Georgia remains the fifth seed, the Bulldogs play Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. ET.
For Ryland Zaborowski, who played his first game since suffering an elbow injury on April 26 against Oklahoma, the opportunity to play in the NCAA tournament was one of the main reasons he transferred from Miami of Ohio over the summer.
“Yeah, I haven't played playoff baseball yet, and I'm very excited. Just playing farther than the regular season is going to be a blast for me, especially with the group of guys that we have here,” Zaborowski said. “It's going to be a lot of fun. No school, it's just baseball, baseball, baseball, and maybe a little bit of fishing on the side. But I'm really looking forward to it.”
The Bulldogs are certainly glad to have Zaborowski back. His two-run double in the seventh inning gave Georgia a three-run cushion that relievers Kolten Smith and Zach Harris made stand up for the big series win.
Smith (5-3), who only lasted two-thirds of an inning last week at Alabama, allowed just two hits with five strikeouts. Harris allowed a home run in the ninth, but that was all, striking out Jace LaViolette to end the game, while picking up his fourth save.
“It was good, just able to bounce back, it means a lot to me and the team,” Smith said. “We’re just going to carry that into Hoover next weekend.
Give starter Leighton Finley his props.
Finley kept the Bulldogs in the game with five scoreless innings before Slate Alford broke a 0-0 tie in the bottom of the fifth with a two-run homer, snapping a 15-inning scoreless streak.
“I mean, Slate, come on, guys, Slate's done it all year, right? I mean, what a year this year, man,” Johnson said of Alford’s 17th home run. “But yeah, it relaxed us, it calmed us down, it was like, ‘OK, we're back.”
Johnson was proven correct.
After Bear Harrison tied the game in the sixth inning with a two-run homer off Finley, Henry Hunter put Georgia back on top in the sixth with a two-run homer over the fence in right.
Back-to-back homers on two pitches off reliever Brad Radke tied the game again, before a three-run seventh proved to be the game-winners.
An RBI single by Ryan Black put Georgia up 5-4, followed two batters later by Zaborowski, who chopped a ball over the bag at third for two RBI and a 7-4 lead.
