No. 3 Bulldogs Beat Liberty 6-1 to Win NCAA Athens Regional

Sunday, May 31

Athens, Ga.

5:00 p.m.

University of Georgia

49-12

Liberty

43-21

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
LIBERTY	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	7	0
Georgia	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	4	X	6	7	0

26BSB Score - NCAA Regional - Georgia 6, Liberty 1

No. 3 Bulldogs Beat Liberty 6-1 to Win NCAA Athens Regional

May 31, 2026 | Baseball

Box Score 26BSB NCAARegional Game 6 - Georgia vs. Liberty

Game 6

ATHENS, Ga. – Third-ranked Georgia defeated Liberty 6-1 on Sunday to win the NCAA Athens Regional and advance to an eighth Super Regional in program history.

Fast Facts

Graduate right-hander Caden Aoki (9-1) started on the bump for the Bulldogs, firing six innings and allowing only one run while striking out a career-high 11 to earn the win.
Liberty scored its sole run in the top of the first on an RBI-single by Jaxon Sorenson.
Junior Tre Phelps got the Bulldogs on the board in the sixth inning in dramatic fashion with a two-run blast, his 19th of the year.
Junior Zach Brown entered the game in relief in the seventh and tossed three scoreless frames to close out the game for Georgia, earning his second save of the year.
The Bulldogs added four more runs in the bottom of the eighth with a solo shot by senior Michael O'Shaughnessy, an RBI-double by sophomore Rylan Lujo and a two-run single by junior Ryan Wynn. The home run was O'Shaughnessy's 18th of the year and his first in an NCAA Regional.
With the win, the Bulldogs closed out the Athens Regional 3-0 and improved to 40-22 all-time in NCAA Regionals.
Georgia will advance to its first Super Regional since 2024, when the Bulldogs hosted NC State at Foley Field.

Key Quotes

Ike Cousins Head Baseball Coach Wes Johnson
Opening Statement...
"I thought the game was – man – one to remember. For those first six innings, I thought their starter [Cooper Harrington] came out, threw the ball well. Kind of kept us off balance. I thought we got off some good swings and were just missing some balls. That'll happen when you see a guy like that who's kind of unique. He had a lower release height, was really commanding his pitches. He kept us off balance but really proud of our hitters. [I] thought we just kept grinding and didn't give in and made it hard on them. Then, obviously, Caden Aoki – there's a reason we call him 'Doc.' What he did tonight was phenomenal. Obviously, the big blow right there with Tre [Phelps] hitting the home run and then Michael [O'Shaughnessy] getting another one later. Then us putting some more pressure on them, getting off some really good at-bats. Then Zach Brown coming in and closing out the game was really, really good.

As far as the Tre (Phelps) situation, for the record, Tre's family was sitting up in the stands. Tre was waving at his family. The umpires – whatever, you know I'm not an umpire – they thought he was talking to their dugout. Tre got ejected. Tre will miss game one of the super regional. I also was ejected. I have no further penalties. That's the only statements that we can give and the NCAA will not be making a statement."

#3 Daniel Jackson | C | Jr.
On the dugout culture…
"Everyone in the dugout, all the hitters, support each other and tell each other to keep going. We knew it was only a matter of time before our offense got going, and it was all about keeping our foot on the gas and keep going."

#12 Caden Aoki | RHP | Sr.
On staying level-headed as a pitcher…
"You have to go out there every inning. It's like a new game every inning, every pitch. You have to stay locked in. You're at your best pitching when you're not looking at the score. So, I knew the job I had to do, and I wanted to go out there and execute."

NCAA Athens Regional All-Tournament Team
P (2): Joey Volchko, Georgia; Cooper Harrington, Liberty
C: Daniel Jackson, Georgia
DH: Jack Arcamone, Georgia
1B: Brennan Hudson, Georgia
2B: Ryan Wynn, Georgia
3B: Jordan Jaffe, Liberty
SS: Kolby Branch, Georgia
OF(3): Rylan Lujo, Georgia; Nick Barone, Liberty; Kenny Ishikawa, Georgia
Most Outstanding Player: Brennan Hudson, Georgia

Game 5

Liberty University defeated Boston College, 8-3, to advance to the NCAA Athens Regional Final against Georgia.

Fast Facts

With the win, Liberty tied the school record for most wins in a season (43) for the third time ever and first time since 2019.
Graduate right-hander Jake Potts (4-2) entered the game in relief in the fourth and fired 5.0 innings of one-run baseball, striking out three to earn the win.
Boston College got on the board first, putting up runs in the first and second innings, thanks to a solo shot by sophomore Ty Mainolfi (2-for-5, 2 RBI) in the first and an RBI-single by graduate Gunnar Johnson in the second.
It was all Liberty following the second inning, as the Flames drove in five runs on four hits, taking advantage of the two Boston College errors in the third. Junior Josh Campos and senior Jordan Jaffe (3-for-4, 2 RBI) each added a run to Liberty's lead with solo shots over the right field wall in the fourth and fifth innings, respectively. Jaffe scored again in the seventh inning on a single to left field by senior Nick Barone (2-for-4, 2 RBI) to bring the Flames lead to 8-2.
Mainolfi drove in a third run for Boston College on a hard-hit single in the top of the ninth, but the Eagles' late comeback attempt ultimately fell short.

Up Next
Georgia (49-12) will advance to an NCAA Super Regional next weekend and likely host as the No. 3 overall seed. The official selection of the eight super regional hosts will be announced on www.NCAA.com/mcws, Tuesday, June 2 by 10 a.m. (ET). The College World Series begins play Friday, June 12, at Charles Schwab Field Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska.