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Georgia falls to NC State in Athens Super Regional finale, NCAA Tournament elimination game

Andrew Olson

By Andrew Olson

Published:

Georgia’s 2024 season has come to an end. The No. 7 national seed Bulldogs fell to 10-seed NC State 8-5 in the decisive Game 3 of the Athens Super Regional.

After lopsided games Saturday (18-1 NC State) and Sunday (11-2 Georgia), Monday’s game was more competitive, but UGA coach Wes Johnson could not find an arm to slow down the Wolfpack bats.

Georgia tried Zach Harris (3 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 3 K), Kolten Smith (3.1 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K) and Brian Zeldin (2.2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, K), but none of the three could contain NC State for too long.

The first three half innings were quiet. Georgia broke the scoring ice in the bottom of the 2nd inning when Tre Phelps hit a 2-run homer.

UGA’s lead, though, didn’t last long. NC State’s Garrett Pennington answered with a 2-run homer in the top of the 3rd to tie it up 2-2.

NC State took the lead in the 4th inning. Matt Heavner scored on a passed ball to make it 3-2. An Alex Makarewicz single plated Noah Soles to make it 4-2.

Georgia had chances to tie or retake the lead.

UGA loaded the bases with 1 out in the bottom of the 5th inning. With Charlie Condon coming up, NC State decided to go to the bullpen, pulling Dudan for Whitaker.

Whitaker got Condon to strike out swinging. He ended the threat by getting Alford to ground out to second base, stranding 3 Dawgs.

Eli Serrano III kept NC State’s momentum going with a no-doubter to right field, extending the Wolfpack lead to 5-2 in the top of the 6th inning.

The Dawgs were able to cut into the lead in the bottom of the 6th. Gonzalez was up with runers on first and third with 1 out when he hit a sac fly to right field, making it a 5-3 ballgame.

NC State retook momentum again in the 7th inning. The Wolfpack extended their lead to 6-3 with a solo home run by Sosa.

Georgia brought the tying run to the plate multiple times in the bottom of the 7th with 2 on and nobody out. Serrano made a highlight catch at the wall for the first out. The second out, a grounder, brought a run home to cut it to 6-4.

Once again, NC State had an offensive answer. This time, Makarewicz hit a 2-run blast to extend the Wolfpack lead to 8-4.

Down 4 runs in their last at-bat, the Bulldogs fought to the finish. Condon hit a 1-out solo shot, his 37th home run of the season, to cut it to 8-5.

Slate Alford was up next and walked to keep things interesting. Dylan Goldstein was then retired on a pop up. Phelps, UGA’s final hope, flied out to center to end the game.

Johnson was hired after the program failed to make the NCAA Tournament in 2023. In his first season, Johnson led the program to a 43-17 season and first NCAA Regional championship since 2008, falling just 1 win short of a trip to the College World Series. While Monday’s outcome stings, it’s clear that Georgia baseball has a bright future ahead.

Andrew Olson

Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.

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