Georgia begins NCAA tournament play Friday in Corvallis, Ore. That they’re participating again in college baseball’s version of the “Big Dance” has become the standard under coach David Perno.
The third-seeded Bulldogs (31-30) will open play at 4 p.m. ET against No. 2-seed Creighton (44-14). The winner will play the winner of the second game, between top-seeded Oregon State (38-17) and Arkansas-Little Rock (24-32), at 8 p.m. Saturday. It’s a double-elimination tournament, with the champion advancing to a super regional against the winner of the Nashville Regional, hosted by Vanderbilt.
“They’re the two seed and we’re the three seed for a reason, so we know we’re going to be in for another challenge,” Perno said after the Bulldogs’ practice in Corvallis on Thursday. “They have an ace and a star in the middle of their lineup, so it’s no different than we’ve seen all year. We’ve been playing in games of this magnitude every week it seems.”
Perno, the Bulldogs’ coach the past 10 years, has received more than his share of criticism over the years. But short of winning it all — they came up a game short in 2008 — he’s making a good argument as Georgia’s best baseball coach ever.
“In a lot of ways I’d say Coach Perno has probably been under the radar and very much underrated,” said Ray Tanner, 15-year coach of defending national champion South Carolina and the dean of SEC coaches. “He’s been to the College World Series and in the finals and in the tournament a bunch of times. But when you look at what they did this year, overcoming what they had to while playing the toughest schedule in the country and having to win three games in the [SEC] tournament, he’s done a tremendous job.”
Realistically, the Bulldogs have no business being back in the postseason. They played the most difficult schedule in the country. They lost their starting center fielder and leadoff hitter, Johnathan Taylor, to a career-ending injury in the 10th game, and they negotiated a 61-game schedule with basically one dependable starting pitcher, an overachieving closer and no real star sluggers.
Yet here they are, in a regional for the sixth time under Perno and 10th time overall. Perno also has led the Dogs to three of their six CWS berths.
“I have a ton of respect for Coach Perno, and I don’t even know him,” Creighton coach Ed Servais told the Omaha World-Leader. “For him to have done what he’s done to keep that team together is amazing. ... I respect their team for staying together. They could have been distracted. They could have felt sorry for themselves.”
Georgia will have its hands full in Oregon. Led by pitcher Jonas Dufek (11-1, 2.17 ERA) and outfielder Trever Adams (.392, 14 HRs, 57 RBIs), the Bluejays have won nine of their past 10 games. Georgia right-hander Michael Palazzone (10-4, 3.20 ERA) will start Game 1 while left-hander Alex Wood (5-7, 4.53 ERA) will get the nod in Game 2.
The Bulldogs have distinguished themselves in postseason play. They’re 14-7 in regional games, 6-2 in super regionals and 6-6 in the CWS.
Perno didn’t hesitate when asked what is his secret to success in the postseason. “The schedule,” he said. “The conference we’re in and playing a tough non-conference schedule. There are no surprises for us. We’ve seen the best guys in the country all year. We’re just not going to be shocked by anybody we run into.”
