Oregon power hitter Naulivou Lauaki Jr. is transferring to Georgia
With Tuesday’s deadline for players to enter the transfer portal approaching, Georgia baseball continues to make moves to reload after reaching the 2026 College World Series.
Oregon redshirt freshman utility player Naulivou Lauaki Jr. announced Monday via Instagram his commitment to the Bulldogs. Lauaki is Georgia’s ninth addition from the portal since it opened June 1.
Georgia beat out fellow SEC schools Florida and Texas A&M for Lauaki.
He is Georgia’s highest-ranked transfer portal commit at No. 30, according to ESPN’s rankings. Jacob Hanley, who ranked 46th on that list, also committed to the Bulldogs on Monday.
Coming out of high school, Lauaki was the No. 1-ranked right-handed pitcher and No. 3 overall player in Utah, according to Prep Baseball Report. Perfect Game rated him the No. 3 right-handed pitcher and No. 5 overall player in Utah.
He committed to Oregon but suffered an arm injury that forced him to miss his freshman year.
Lauaki’s bat became a pretty good backup plan, as he quickly became one of Oregon’s best hitters this past season.
The massive 6-foot-5, 265-pound right-handed hitter out of Springville, Utah, batted .321 across 134 at-bats in 41 games played, racking up 43 hits, seven doubles, 14 home runs, 37 RBIs and slugging .687 this season.
Lauaki had a team-best 1.057 OPS and earned a spot on the Big Ten’s all-freshman team.
Lauaki’s best game last season was April 11 against Nebraska, when he was 3-for-5 with two home runs and three RBIs. The Ducks finished 43-18 after being knocked out in the Austin Super Regional by Texas.