Wes Johnson makes case for Georgia to host NCAA Tournament region

There is no doubt in Wes Johnson’s mind that Georgia baseball deserves to host an NCAA Tournament Regional. The Bulldogs fell in the opening round of the SEC Tournament to LSU on Tuesday, meaning they can do no more to improve their resume prior to selection day.

Still, Johnson isn’t worried about his team earning a top 16 seed. He argued postgame that the Bulldogs have proven they earned the right to host a Regional.

“I don’t get too caught up in that, but I’ll definitely say we’re worthy of hosting,” he said. “When you win 17 games in our league, there’s all kinds of stuff out there about teams getting in with 12 and 13 potentially. So if they’re gonna get in with potentially 13 regular season wins and we won 17, that math to me doesn’t add up. National seeds, that’s out of my control. There’s a lot of factors that have to play out this week. But I do think we’re worthy of hosting.”

Georgia ends the season with a 39-14 record and ranks No. 6 according the D1 Baseball’s RPI rankings. The Bulldogs have been among the best hitting teams in the country thanks to the play of Charlie Condon.

Condon leads the country with a batting average of .451 to go along with 35 home runs. That is another major reason why the Bulldogs pose such a threat entering the tournament and have shown themselves to be a top 16 team.

Unfortunately, Condon failed to record a hit Tuesday as Georgia lost in a 9-1 blowout against the Tigers. It was an uncharacteristically off day for the Bulldogs star and the team as a whole, but they’ll aim to put it behind them as they gear up for the next battle.

Although the chance to host a Regional is certainly still up for grabs, Georgia may have missed out on the chance to earn a top eight seed. That would mean that the Bulldogs would have to play on the road if they made a Super Regional.

D1 Baseball had Georgia as the No. 8 overall seed in its NCAA Tournament projections that were released prior to the start of conference tournament action. It will be interesting to see whether the Bulldogs can potentially hang on or if the loss causes them to drop.

The NCAA Tournament Selection Show is set for May 13 and will be streamed live online.

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