Oklahoma ends Georgia’s run in College World Series

OMAHA, Neb. — For the first time in 18 years, Georgia baseball made it back to college baseball’s biggest stage. The Bulldogs left Omaha on Wednesday night with a school-record 53 victories, an SEC championship and a foundation that suggests their return to the College World Series won’t take nearly as long next time.

Georgia’s memorable season came to an end with an 11-4 loss to Oklahoma in a College World Series semifinal before 24,446 fans at Charles Schwab Field.

The Sooners (who advanced to the national championship series) flexed their power throughout the night, blasting five home runs and capitalizing on key opportunities to eliminate the Bulldogs.

“They are playing extremely well right now and at their peak,” Georgia coach Wes Johnson said. “They executed pitches all night long, got off great swings in hitters counts. They didn’t miss their pitch. We had some chances. I wish them the best of luck in the national championship series. Skip (Johnson) does a great job.”

Oklahoma seized control early.

Jason Walk opened the scoring with a solo home run in the third inning, and the Sooners added three more runs in the fourth on a solo shot by Trey Gambill and a two-run blast from Dasan Harris to build a 4-0 lead.

Georgia responded in the fifth when senior shortstop Kolby Branch doubled with one out and later scored on Ryan Black’s RBI single, trimming the deficit to 4-1.

The Bulldogs showed signs of life again in the sixth inning.

Trailing 5-1, Georgia loaded the bases and drew consecutive walks from Oklahoma reliever LJ Mercurius. Branch and Black each forced in a run, cutting the Sooners’ lead to 5-3 and briefly shifting momentum toward the Bulldogs’ dugout.

Oklahoma answered immediately.

The Sooners pushed across a run in the bottom half of the inning to restore a three-run cushion at 6-3, then put the game away late. Harris crushed his second two-run homer of the night in the eighth inning, while Walk added another solo blast as Oklahoma stretched the lead to 9-3.

Georgia never recovered.

Redshirt sophomore Paul Farley started on the mound for the Bulldogs and struck out six batters over 3 1/3 innings. He allowed four runs on six hits without issuing a walk. Senior Matt Scott followed with four innings of relief before Justin Byrd, Zach Brown, Grant Edwards and Joe Nottingham combined to finish the final 1 2/3 innings.

The final swing of Branch’s Georgia career provided one last highlight.

In his final collegiate at-bat, the senior launched a home run, his 20th of the season and 56th of his career, adding another chapter to one of the most productive careers in program history.

Afterward, Branch reflected less on statistics and more on the joy that defined Georgia’s season.

“You look at all the kids in the stands and wanted to let them know and make them see that baseball is fun,” Branch said. “When you focus when you’re playing and when you do that you play good baseball.

“That was our message and what we tried to do each time we took the field here in Omaha. That’s what we tried to do all season. We had a lot of fun and accomplished a lot and hopefully made a lot of people excited about Georgia baseball this year and for the future.”

There was plenty to celebrate.

The Bulldogs finished 53-14, setting a school record for victories. Along the way, Georgia captured its first SEC regular-season championship since 2008, won the program’s first SEC Tournament title and reached the College World Series for the first time since 2008.

Georgia finished 2-2 in Omaha and tied for third nationally, a remarkable achievement for a program that spent much of the past decade trying to reclaim its place among college baseball’s elite.