Georgia baseball plays Binghamton as part of College World Series push

ATHENS — Georgia had a stated goal of earning a national seed. It accomplished that, finishing 42-15 in the regular season.

It enters the NCAA Tournament as the overall No. 7 seed. Should Georgia advance out of the Athens Regional, it would then get a chance to host a Super Regional.

Which puts it one step closer to reaching another one of its stated goals: returning to the College World Series for the first time since 2008.

“I don’t think it’s pressure,” Georgia baseball coach Wes Johnson told reporters Thursday. “Pressure is just something you apply to yourself, and it creates illusions. I think, you know, I think, yes, that’s one of our goals, right? Just like being a national seed was a goal. You want to have a chance to play at home. It doesn’t guarantee you’re going to get to Omaha.

“It doesn’t guarantee you’re going to win regionals and super regionals. It’s just something that lets you know that, yeah, we’re moving in the right direction. It still comes back to playing clean baseball.”

ExploreGeorgia baseball armed and focused for NCAA Tournament

To get to that point, Georgia will first have to beat Binghamton in the Athens Regional.

Friday’s game is set for a 12:06 p.m. start, with SEC Network televising the game. Georgia expects to start Leighton Finley (2-2, 5.08) on Friday. Binghamton is slated to send Brady Bouchard (3-4, 8.78) to the mound.

Finley started the first game of Georgia’s regional last season against Army. Though Georgia won that contest, Finley did not have the best outing. He did not make it out of the fourth inning and was tagged with four runs.

Georgia found a way to win the regional, thanks to some clutch pitching from Finley as the team’s closer in a win over Georgia Tech. Johnson noted that Finley may have been too eager in last year’s start against Army.

This time around, Georgia is banking on that past experience to help the Bulldogs get off to a strong start.

“He’s our rock, and he’s done a great job this season. It feels like he just continues to get better and better and better each and every week,” catcher Henry Hunter said. “He had a little bit of a tougher start against Army, he’s excited to get back out there, and give it another go. He’s just fired up about it.”

ExploreGeorgia baseball armed and focused for NCAA tourney

Binghamton won the American East with a 29-24 record. And while they’re a step down from the SEC teams Georgia faced on a week in, week out basis, Johnson is stressing to his team to treat this like an SEC foe.

“You’re going to get their best effort,” Johnson said. “You’re going to get an arm. And you guys know this. His stuff’s probably going to tick up for an inning or two just because he’s got more adrenaline than he normally has.”

Georgia enters the regional leading the nation in home runs, with 133. It also will have Robbie Burnett back healthy as he has dealt with a hamstring injury of late. Burnett leads the team in home runs with 20.

While Georgia has played to its strengths at home this season — where the Bulldogs went 29-4 this season — Johnson had his team spend more time on bunting and situational hitting in the buildup to the Athens Regional.

At this point, the team knows it has to do whatever it takes to win.

“The board’s clean, right? I mean, just understanding that records don’t matter, who you’re playing doesn’t matter,” Johnson said. “Everybody’s going to come out, and they’ve got a fresh start, so you’re going to get everybody’s best effort.”

The winner of Friday’s game will face the winner of the Duke-Oklahoma game, which is scheduled to begin at 6:06 p.m. Friday. The loser of Georgia-Binghamton will face the loser of the Duke-Oklahoma State game at 12:06 p.m. Saturday.