The Georgia Bulldogs won the Athens Regional with a 6-2 win over the Liberty Flames at Foley Field. Georgia went 3-0 in the regional with two wins over Liberty and one win over Long Island. Next up, No. 3 national seed Georgia will host the winner of the Starkville Regional in the super regionals.
In Georgia’s regional-clinching win over Liberty, the Bulldogs fell behind 1-0 in the first inning. Georgia’s bats were quiet to start the game and Georgia’s offense did not score until the bottom of the sixth inning when a Tre Phelps home run scored two.
Georgia pitcher Caden Aoki threw six innings and allowed just one earned run. He struck out 11 batters and allowed only one walk. Aoki moved to 9-1 with the win. Liberty’s starting pitcher Cooper Harrington held the Georgia line up in check for 6 1/3 innings, but things unraveled for the Flames’ bullpen, which allowed four earned runs in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Georgia reliever Zach Brown allowed only one hit over three innings in a strong performance. Overall, Georgia’s pitching staff performed really well in the Athens Regional. The Bulldogs surrendered two runs or less in all three games of the regional. The Georgia offense produced well as usual with UGA posting 30 runs in three games.
Georgia’s regional was not completely smooth. Georgia infielder Tre Phelps was ejected for having words with the Liberty dugout and manager Wes Johnson was also ejected in the aftermath for defending Phelps. The Bulldogs will be without Phelps for the opening game of the Athens Super Regional.
In a postgame press conference, Johnson clarified that Phelps was celebrating with his family above the Liberty dugout. Johnson will not be suspended for Game 1 of the super regionals.
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This article originally appeared on UGA Wire: Georgia baseball advances to super regionals with 6-1 win over Liberty