Georgia gets national seed, could face Central Georgian and a conference rookie of the year in Super Regional

By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com
 

ATHENS REGIONAL

Friday

2 p.m.: No. 2 Duke (40-15) vs. No. 3 Troy (41-19)

7:30 p.m.: No. 1 Georgia (37-19) vs. No. 4 Campbell (35-24)

Ticket info: 706-542-1231

 

NCAA regional announcement

          If things play out in life as indicated on paper, there will be a Red Raider faction - albeit small - in Athens next week.

          That happens if Texas Tech wins its NCAA baseball regional and Georgia wins its regional. The brackets have the winners of those regionals pairing up in a super regional.

          And Texas Tech would have some fans from Central Georgia on hand, thanks to Red Raider outfielder Gabe Holt of Veterans, who is the Big 12 freshman of the year.

          And a potential in-game showdown? A pair from the same county, Holt and Houston County grad and pitcher Tony Locey.

          But first things first, and first is this week's regional.

           Georgia earned a host spot Sunday night and a national seed at No. 8 on Monday, assuring the Bulldogs a host spot in the super regional with a win.

          The Bulldogs will welcome Campbell, Troy, and Duke in the Athens Regional.

          Ninth-seed Texas Tech hosts Louisville, Kent State, and New Mexico State.

          Samford won the Southern Conference, topping Mercer in the finale, and is headed to Florida State in the Bulldogs' second appearance.

         The Bulldogs went in 2012 and beat Mississippi State twice, but the wins were vacated in 2016 vacated as part of 33 violations, based on a misinterpretation of academic rules involving transfers and changing majors, found by the NCAA in the athletics department – covering eight sports, including baseball – from 2010-14.

          The Southern has been destined to be a one-bid conference for several weeks as the top teams' RPIs started digressing. It was assured when regular-season champ UNCG was eliminated by ninth-seed Western Carolina in the tournament before the final round.

          The last time the Southern had multiple teams make it was 2012 with App State, College of Charleston, and Samford.

          WarrenNolan.com has the Southern 16th out of 31 Division I conferences, and ninth among mid-major conferences.

              A number of Mercer's former A-Sun rivals are in: Stetson, Jacksonville, Troy, Campbell, and Florida Atlantic.

          Stetson is the first A-Sun program to host a regional, and got an 11th seed. The Hatters have had a top-6 RPI for a few weeks.

          Jacksonville got an at-large bid from the A-Sun and is at Florida. Troy and FAU are at-large teams from the Sun Belt, and Campbell won the Big South.

          Stetson is in the tournament for the 18th time, and hosts Hartford, Oklahoma State, and South Florida.

          Mercer’s only non-conference tournament opponent is national top seed Florida.

          The SEC tied the record with 10 teams and four top eight seeds. Florida State is in for the 41st time, the second-longest streak in history.

          This is Georgia’s 11th NCAA trip and fifth as a regional host. That’s good news for the Bulldogs, who have advanced each year as host and moved on to Omaha and the College World Series those years: 2001, 2004, 2006, and 2008.

          Georgia is 23-6 at home this season, losing to Georgia Southern, Texas A&M, Kentucky twice, Tennessee, and Arkansas.