ATHENS — Georgia baseball’s emergence to national respectability has left some lofty expectations entering the 2025 season.
The Bulldogs were ranked No. 4 in Perfect Game’s Preseason Top 25 Rankings, released Monday.
UGA was one of 10 SEC teams to make the list, ranked behind only No. 1 Texas A&M and No. 2 LSU, and ahead of defending national champion Tennessee. It’s a significant jump for a team that was picked to finish sixth in the SEC East going into last season.
Last season’s super regionals appearance, 17 SEC wins and the No. 3 overall MLB draft pick have changed the standard surrounding Georgia’s future.
While coach Wes Johnson hopes to carry some of 2024′s momentum into this season, much of last year’s roster needed a reload after significant turnover.
Golden Spikes winner Charlie Condon spearheaded a large amount of departing offensive production from the 2024 team. Condon, along with sluggers Corey Collins and Dylan Goldstein, hit 69 of Georgia’s eye-popping 151 home runs from last season.
Johnson’s challenge was obvious entering the offseason: return as much offensive firepower as possible while improving on a 5.71 team ERA that finished 10th in the SEC.
That started with ‘re-recruiting,’ keeping Georgia’s top hitters and pitchers with remaining eligibility out of the transfer portal.
Johnson’s offense got that as Tre Phelps, Kolby Branch and Slate Alford return to Athens looking like the foundation of UGA’s lineup in 2025. Phelps, an All-SEC freshman who hit .353 with 12 home runs, caught fire in the back of his first season in Athens.
Branch and Alford, former transfer themselves, also figure to step up in their second year facing SEC pitching. Branch finished the season with 17 homers and a .267 batting average while Alford hit .300 with 17 home runs of his own.
Top starting pitchers Leighton Finley and Kolten Smith, who provided a solid 1-2 weekend punch in the second half of the season, are also are back at Georgia.
Finley ended last season with a 4.14 ERA, allowing 35 earned runs with 76 strikeouts in 76 innings. Smith finished with a 5.56 ERA and 43 earned runs allowed with 105 strikeouts in 69⅔ innings.
The Bulldogs still had plenty to replace, and in a sport where so much elite high school talent skips the college level, the ability to tap into the transfer portal especially is vital.
Johnson acknowledged it after Georgia’s super regionals elimination loss to N.C. State in June, ending his first season as a college head coach.
“We have to continue to go out and recruit, as we have been already,” Johnson said. “Continue to get good, quality players in here that fit our ballpark and what we’re trying to do. If you do that, especially now with the way that things go with the transfer portal and different things, you should put yourself in a position to somewhat have success.”
Johnson seems to have succeeded so far, as Georgia brought back its top eligible pitchers and hitters while signing the No. 3 transfer class in the country, according to 64Analytics.
The Bulldogs landed 16 transfers, addressing needs in every position group.
Infielder Ryan Black is the highest-ranked member of Georgia’s class. Black was a defensive force at Texas-Arlington while leading his team with 41 RBIs, hitting .278 with 101 total bases on the season.
Graduate transfer Ryland Zaborowski from Miami of Ohio also figures to make early impacts with his bat. The 6-5, 236-pounder led the MAC last season with 20 home runs, and led his team with 62 hits, 52 RBIs and a .688 slugging percentage.
A pitching coach by trade, Johnson also boosted his staff with VCU transfer Brian Curley (5.52 ERA). The junior totaled 35 strikeouts and 14 walks in 29⅓ innings, mostly working as a reliever.
Johnson has proved he can recruit well out of the portal, considering his 18 transfers last season helped revamp a roster that missed the NCAA Tournament outright the year before.
Georgia test drives its new roster for the first time against Quinnipac at noon Feb. 14 at Brooks Field in Wilmington, North Carolina. The Bulldogs will open SEC play hosting Kentucky on March 14-16.
SEC Teams ranked in Perfect Game’s Preseason Top 25
1. Texas A&M
2. LSU
4. Georgia
5. Tennessee
7. Texas
11. Florida
13. Arkansas
15. Vanderbilt
20. Oklahoma
22. Auburn
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