University of Georgia Athletics
Bulldogs Powered Their Way To SEC Title
May 11, 2026 | Baseball, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
With an eight-run second inning against LSU on Saturday night at Foley Field, the fourth-ranked Georgia baseball team was doing what it has done all season. The Bulldogs score runs like they're playing a video game, not facing off against teams in the best baseball conference in the country.
In the Bulldogs' 13-8 win over the Tigers, Georgia clinched its first SEC regular-season title since 2008, doing so with one more game in the series and this weekend's season-ending series at No. 5 Auburn still to go. Georgia, not backing off a bit once the title was secured, swept the series Sunday with another offensive explosion, coupled with excellent pitching performances, winning 12-1 to secure its fourth sweep in SEC play.
"It just shows what the team's all about," said Sunday's winning pitcher, Caden Aoki, who struck out seven Tigers in five innings on the mound. "We enjoyed it on the field (Saturday), but we got back in the clubhouse and then we had work to do today. So just coming out here and doing our thing is the biggest thing."
The Bulldogs (41-11, 21-6 SEC) have been doing their thing incredibly well since they began conference play in March. And it paid off with the regular-season championship.
"It's massive. It's so hard to win this league, and then win it outright. It's something that you want to check off on your list of things that you've ever accomplished. It's right up there. It's hard to do. It's 10 weekends of just meat-house grinding," Wes Johnson, Georgia's Ike Cousins Head Baseball Coach, said following Saturday's title-clinching win.
"Meat-house grinding" might be how opposing teams describe facing Georgia's lineup.
With 27 SEC games in the books, 21 of them wins, Georgia leads the conference with a .328 team batting average, and its nation-leading 140 home runs are 32 more than anyone else in the league. The Bulldogs' 480 runs batted in and 502 runs scored are also more than 50 ahead of the second-most in the SEC. Georgia is also second in walks drawn (287) and times hit by a pitch (108), with Tre Phelps (30) hit 14 times more than any other SEC batter.
Daniel Jackson, who was named the SEC Player of the Week for the third time this season on Monday, is having as good a season as any player in the country, and Phelps is right there with him. Jackson leads the SEC with a .384 batting average, Phelps is second at .374, and Rylan Lujo is fourth at .361. Jackson is also first with 25 home runs, with Phelps tied for sixth at 18 and Michael O'Shaughnessy tied for eighth (17). Jackson ranks first in RBIs with 74, and Phelps (52) is tied for sixth. In runs scored, Jackson leads the way with 71, and Phelps is second in the league with 70.
In other stellar numbers at the top of the SEC, Phelps is tied for the lead in on-base percentage at .498, and Jackson is fourth at .484. Jackson also leads the conference with an .818 slugging percentage, O'Shaughnessy is fifth at .709, Phelps is seventh (.703) and Brennan Hudson is eighth (.702). In OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage), Jackson (1.302) and Phelps (1.201) are first and second in the league, Hudson (1.151) is sixth and O'Shaughnessy (1.137) is seventh.
The Bulldogs have 11 hitters who play regularly with batting averages at .305 or above. They have six hitters with 13 or more home runs, though Henry Allen, who is hitting .321 with 13 homers, is out for the rest of the season after suffering a knee injury. Ten Georgia batters have driven in at least 25 runs this season.
Georgia heads to Auburn riding a nine-game win streak since back-to-back losses to No. 3 Georgia Tech at Truist Park in Atlanta on April 21 and at No. 17 Ole Miss on April 25. The Bulldogs have averaged 10.2 runs per game during the streak, but they also won 5-1 at Ole Miss and had a 4-0 win over Missouri, demonstrating that good pitching and defense can get it done, too.
The Bulldogs have captured the SEC title, but that's just one of their goals this season. There are bigger prizes still to play for in the postseason. As Jackson said after Sunday's win, "the job's not finished."
Staff Writer
With an eight-run second inning against LSU on Saturday night at Foley Field, the fourth-ranked Georgia baseball team was doing what it has done all season. The Bulldogs score runs like they're playing a video game, not facing off against teams in the best baseball conference in the country.
In the Bulldogs' 13-8 win over the Tigers, Georgia clinched its first SEC regular-season title since 2008, doing so with one more game in the series and this weekend's season-ending series at No. 5 Auburn still to go. Georgia, not backing off a bit once the title was secured, swept the series Sunday with another offensive explosion, coupled with excellent pitching performances, winning 12-1 to secure its fourth sweep in SEC play.
"It just shows what the team's all about," said Sunday's winning pitcher, Caden Aoki, who struck out seven Tigers in five innings on the mound. "We enjoyed it on the field (Saturday), but we got back in the clubhouse and then we had work to do today. So just coming out here and doing our thing is the biggest thing."
The Bulldogs (41-11, 21-6 SEC) have been doing their thing incredibly well since they began conference play in March. And it paid off with the regular-season championship.
"It's massive. It's so hard to win this league, and then win it outright. It's something that you want to check off on your list of things that you've ever accomplished. It's right up there. It's hard to do. It's 10 weekends of just meat-house grinding," Wes Johnson, Georgia's Ike Cousins Head Baseball Coach, said following Saturday's title-clinching win.
"Meat-house grinding" might be how opposing teams describe facing Georgia's lineup.
With 27 SEC games in the books, 21 of them wins, Georgia leads the conference with a .328 team batting average, and its nation-leading 140 home runs are 32 more than anyone else in the league. The Bulldogs' 480 runs batted in and 502 runs scored are also more than 50 ahead of the second-most in the SEC. Georgia is also second in walks drawn (287) and times hit by a pitch (108), with Tre Phelps (30) hit 14 times more than any other SEC batter.
Daniel Jackson, who was named the SEC Player of the Week for the third time this season on Monday, is having as good a season as any player in the country, and Phelps is right there with him. Jackson leads the SEC with a .384 batting average, Phelps is second at .374, and Rylan Lujo is fourth at .361. Jackson is also first with 25 home runs, with Phelps tied for sixth at 18 and Michael O'Shaughnessy tied for eighth (17). Jackson ranks first in RBIs with 74, and Phelps (52) is tied for sixth. In runs scored, Jackson leads the way with 71, and Phelps is second in the league with 70.
In other stellar numbers at the top of the SEC, Phelps is tied for the lead in on-base percentage at .498, and Jackson is fourth at .484. Jackson also leads the conference with an .818 slugging percentage, O'Shaughnessy is fifth at .709, Phelps is seventh (.703) and Brennan Hudson is eighth (.702). In OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage), Jackson (1.302) and Phelps (1.201) are first and second in the league, Hudson (1.151) is sixth and O'Shaughnessy (1.137) is seventh.
The Bulldogs have 11 hitters who play regularly with batting averages at .305 or above. They have six hitters with 13 or more home runs, though Henry Allen, who is hitting .321 with 13 homers, is out for the rest of the season after suffering a knee injury. Ten Georgia batters have driven in at least 25 runs this season.
Georgia heads to Auburn riding a nine-game win streak since back-to-back losses to No. 3 Georgia Tech at Truist Park in Atlanta on April 21 and at No. 17 Ole Miss on April 25. The Bulldogs have averaged 10.2 runs per game during the streak, but they also won 5-1 at Ole Miss and had a 4-0 win over Missouri, demonstrating that good pitching and defense can get it done, too.
The Bulldogs have captured the SEC title, but that's just one of their goals this season. There are bigger prizes still to play for in the postseason. As Jackson said after Sunday's win, "the job's not finished."
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files.
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