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NCAA tournament preview: UGA baseball hosts 4-team Athens regional

It's a simple proposition for the Georgia Bulldogs in the NCAA tourney: As the No. 8 national seed, win this weekend ... and then host next week's super-regional.

The NCAA baseball tournament launches on Friday and runs through the end of June.

For those not familiar with the format, here's a quick rundown:

REGIONAL WEEKEND (June 1-4)

**The top 16 seeds of this 64-team tournament have been selected as hosts for regional weekend.

**Each region comprises four schools playing in a double-elimination mini-tournament (seeded 1-4).

**The regional winner automatically advances to the super-regional round.

**The top 16 seeds for opening weekend include:

1. Florida (42-17)

2. Stanford (44-10)

3. Oregon State (44-10-1)

4. Ole Miss (46-15)

5. Arkansas (39-18)

6. North Carolina (38-18)

7. Florida State (43-17)

8. Georgia (37-19)

9. Texas Tech (39-17)

10. Clemson (45-14)

11. Stetson (45-11)

12. East Carolina (43-16)

13. Texas (37-20)

14. Minnesota (41-13)

15. Coastal Carolina (42-17)

16. N.C. State (40-16)

SUPER-REGIONAL WEEKEND (June 8-10)

**At the eight super-regional sites, two regional winners engage in a best-of-three series.

**The winner of each super-regional matchup earns a berth in the College World Series.

COLLEGE WORLD SERIES (June 16-27)

**The eight super-regional winners are subsequently re-seeded for the double-elimination tournament.

**The winners of each CWS bracket advance to the World Series final and then commence in a best-of-three series to determine the national champion.

The following represents a capsule preview of the Athens regional. The seeding order: UGA (host), Duke, Troy and Campbell.

ATHENS REGIONAL PREVIEW

1. UGA (39-17 overall, 18-12 SEC)

TOURNEY STATUS: At-large bid ... regional host

NOTABLE OPPONENTS: 7-9 vs. Florida, Arkansas, Texas A&M, Clemson, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt

COOL STAT: 10 victories over teams ranked in Baseball America's Top 25

WHAT'S AT STAKE: It's a simple proposition for the Bulldogs: As the No. 8 national seed, win this weekend and host next week's super-regional, as well.

From 1987 to 2008, spanning 22 seasons, UGA advanced to the College World Series in Omaha six times (1990 national champions); but it's been a struggle over the last 10 years, with the Dawgs only thrice making the NCAA tourney field.

The redemption arc begins on Friday, with UGA colliding with Campbell, the Big South champions. If the Camels opt to start Allan Winans (Big South pitcher of the year), it could put extra pressure on the Dawgs to avoid the losers' bracket heading into Saturday.

And if Winans draws the Friday start, there'll be pressure on Georgia to escape the mini-funk of last week's SEC tournament, with the Bulldogs racking up just four runs over two quick and disappointing defeats.

All-SEC performer Keegan McGovern (15 HR, 44 RBI, 63 runs, .325 batting, .440 OBP) seems like a good pick to lead the Dawgs out of the temporary doldrums, but it's not a guaranteed breakout.

In SEC play, UGA ranked last in doubles, 10th in on-base percentage, ninth in hits, ninth in RBI, ninth in runs, seventh in home runs and sixth in batting average.

On the flip side, UGA has suffered only six losses at Foley Field this season; and against non-conference competition at home, the Dawgs are a sparkling 13-1 overall.

2. DUKE (40-15 overall, 18-11 ACC)

TOURNEY STATUS: At-large bid

COOL STAT: Duke hit the 40-win mark for the first time in school history

NOTABLE OPPONENTS: 6-6 vs. Vanderbilt, Florida State, N.C. State, Louisville, North Carolina

WHAT'S AT STAKE: Don't fall asleep on Duke walking away with the regional crown. In ACC play, the Blue Devil offense consistently earned strong marks with doubles, homers, on-base percentage, runs and RBI; and for the season, Duke never endured a losing streak longer than three games.

Outfielder Griffin Conine (15 HR, 49 RBI, .402 OBP), outfielder Jimmy Herron (speedy on defense, efficient at the plate) and shortstop Zack Kone (4 HR, 34 RBI, 38 runs, .280 batting) lead the Blue Devils' promising attack, which registered nine or more runs 13 times this season.

The Duke pitchers will have their hands full in the opener. In Sun Belt action, Troy's offense posted top-two conference finishes with hits, runs, doubles, triples, total bases, slugging percentage, on-base percentage and steals.

3. TROY (41-19 overall, 19-11 Sun Belt)

TOURNEY STATUS: At-large bid

COOL STAT: Seven NCAA tournament appearances since 1995

NOTABLE FOES: 1-9 vs. Auburn, Florida State, Mississippi State, Alabama, Coastal Carolina

WHAT'S AT STAKE: Troy may hail from a non-Power 5 conference, but the Trojans have plenty of experience with playing the 'underdog' card.

That's the price to pay when sharing the Sun Belt spotlight with Coastal Carolina, the College World Series champions from just two years ago.

In Sun Belt play, the Trojans pitchers ranked first or second in the following categories: ERA (3.73), strikeouts (495), shutouts (5) and opponents' batting average (.242).

4. CAMPBELL (35-24 overall, 21-6 Big South)

TOURNEY STATUS: Automatic bid (Big South champs)

NOTABLE OPPONENTS: 0-2 vs. Duke, 1-1 vs. Ohio State

BEST WEEKEND STRATEGY: Perhaps Campbell will save redshirt freshman Allan Winans (Big South's best pitcher) for Saturday's game against Troy or Duke, knowing Winans' odds for victory would be tangibly higher than the opener versus UGA.

On the flip side, Winans' mound presence on Friday could keep things super-tight between Georgia and Campbell.

We'll see how this plays out later in the day.

For the season, Winans accounted for a 2.61 ERA and superb K-BB rate of 89/23 over 76 seasonal innings.

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