Uga Baseball’s regional opener against Long Island University was set for a 5 p.m. first pitch, and Georgia wasted little time showing why it entered postseason play as the SEC’s top team. Tre Phelps drew a walk to start the bottom of the first, and the Bulldogs pushed the inning into scoring position before leaving the bases loaded without a run.

That first inning belonged to the pitchers for a stretch. Joey Volchko struck out the side for Georgia, while Nicholas Finarelli started on the mound for Long Island University and watched Noah Sorensen, Rivera and Fairchild go down swinging in succession. Georgia still found traffic on the bases, with Jackson reaching after a bobble by the shortstop, Lujo singling to center and then stealing second, and Hudson drawing a full-count walk before Ishikawa lined sharply to first with the bases loaded and Wynn flied out to center with two outs.

The opening frame fit the shape of Georgia’s season. The Bulldogs arrived after winning every SEC road series, finishing 46-12 overall and 23-7 in conference play, then beating Arkansas in the championship game to take the SEC tournament title. Long Island University came in at 30-20 and 26-7 in Northeast Conference play, carrying the kind of record that can make an early postseason test uncomfortable for a favorite that does not convert chances.

That was the first real fault line in the game: Georgia created the pressure, put men everywhere and still walked away scoreless. In a regional, that matters because the team that misses a chance like that often spends the rest of the afternoon trying to get it back. The next development was simply the rest of the game, with Georgia needing to turn that opening burden into runs before the bracket tightened around it.