UGA returns to NCAA regionals as host

Members of the Georgia baseball team celebrate second baseman LJ Talley (2) as he reaches home Dayton Saturday, Feb. 16, 2019, at Foley Field in Athens.

Credit: Kristin M. Bradshaw

Credit: Kristin M. Bradshaw

Members of the Georgia baseball team celebrate second baseman LJ Talley (2) as he reaches home Dayton Saturday, Feb. 16, 2019, at Foley Field in Athens.

The Georgia Bulldogs will be hosting an NCAA regional tournament for the sixth time as the NCAA named the 16 host teams Sunday night.

Georgia is among eight institutions — including Arkansas, East Carolina, North Carolina, Ole Miss, Oregon State, Stanford and Texas Tech — that return after hosting tournaments in 2018.

The Bulldogs (44-15)  fell to Ole Miss, 5-3, Saturday in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament.

Entering the SEC Tournament with a No. 3 RPI, Georgia is expected to host at Foley Field throughout the regionals. The Bulldogs will find out their seeding and opponents Monday when the entire field is announced.

Each regional will be made up of four teams playing in a double-elimination format. All are scheduled from Friday through Monday. Regional winners advance to best-of-three super regionals, and those eight winners go on to the College World Series in Omaha.

The Southeastern Conference led the way with six hosts: Georgia, LSU (37-24), Arkansas (41-17), Mississippi State (46-13), Mississippi (37-25) and Vanderbilt (49-10).

Cross-state rival Georgia Tech also secured a Top 16 seeding and will host the Atlanta regional.