ATHENS — Georgia will decide its College World Series fate under the lights at Foley Field with the sports world looking on,
The No. 7-national seed Bulldogs (43-16) will play Game Three of their NCAA Baseball Super Regional against No. 10-national seed North Carolina State at 7 p.m. on ESPN.
The winner of the game will fill the final remaining spot in the eight-team CWS field, with seven teams having already punched their tickets.
The Wolfpack (37-21) battered Georgia by an 18-1 count in the opening game of the NCAA Baseball Tournament Super Regional on Saturday before the Bulldogs scored an 11-2 win on Sunday.
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“My message won’t change, it’s the same it’s been for these guys, ‘Hey, it’s another game tomorrow,’ and you better be locked in on both sides of the baseball, be focused-up,” said first-year UGA baseball coach Wes Johnson, who was the pitching coach for last year’s CWS champion LSU Tigers.
“If we do that, it’s going to put us in position to have success. It’s not going to guarantee that you will, but it’s going to put you in position to have success.”
The Bulldogs and Wolfpack are guaranteed to have a captive audience in person and on television as college baseball takes center stage on the ESPN sports giant.
North Carolina State coach Elliott Avent, in his 28th year with the Wolfpack, said this is what sports are all about.
“That’s why everybody watches sports,” said Avent, who saved arguably his best starting pitcher and reliever for Game Three. “You may not watch the NBA, but you’ll watch Game 7 of the finals. You may not watch hockey, but you’ll watch Game 7 of the Stanley Cup.
“You may not watch football, but you’ll probably go to a Super Bowl party, right? Everybody is watching Game 3.”
This Georgia baseball team is looking to become the first since the 2008 squad to advance to the College World Series, when those Bulldogs finished runners-up.
North Carolina State most recently played in the CWS in 2021, but had to forfeit its third game on account of Covid.
College World Series field
No. 1 seed Tennessee (won Evansville series, 2-1)
No. 8 seed Florida State (won UConn series, 2-0)
No 12 seed Virginia (won Kansas State series 2-0)
No. 4 seed North Carolina (won West Virginia series 2-0)
No. 2 seed Kentucky (won Oregon State series 2-0)
Florida (won No. 6 seed Clemson series 2-0)
No. 3 seed Texas A&M (won Oregon series 2-0)
