ATHENS – Georgia baseball has already shocked many across the country, but a trip to the College World Series could cement a lasting legacy as coach Wes Johnson looks to recompose the program.

The Bulldogs (42-15) are just two wins away from erasing a 16-year CWS drought. UGA will fight to raise some more eyebrows when it opens a three-game super regional series against NC State at noon on Saturday at Foley Field (TV: ESPNU).

A CWS berth would be a massive step for the Georgia program as it looks to move back into national relevance and stay there.

But for long-time Bulldogs like Corey Collins and Charlie Condon, the road to Omaha has more personal significance.

Collins, who has been at Georgia since 2021, saw the program scuffle for three seasons. He experienced the Bulldogs miss the NCAA tournament outright in 2021 and 2023 and was there to watch the team suffer a heartbreak elimination at North Carolina’s regional in 2022.

Collins finished his first season on the SEC All-Freshman Team before statistically slumping his sophomore and junior years.

Then the Suwanee native found his stride – and health – again near the beginning of the 2024 SEC season and has been one of the country’s top leadoff hitters since. It was Collins who offensively willed Georgia into the super regionals with a two-out, two-run double to lift UGA over Georgia Tech in extra innings.

“It means the world,” Collins said. “We fell in love with this place the first day we stepped on it. We wanted to bring this back here for as long as we’ve been here. To us, it means everything.”

Condon, in his third year at Georgia, saw the heartache, too. The Golden Spikes Award finalist began building into his 6-foot-6 frame during his true freshman season and has led the Bulldog offense over the last two seasons.

Condon has often talked about “bringing Georgia baseball back” to the glory it last had in 2008.

“It was really getting everybody to buy into what this program is and what it looked like before,” Condon said. “We really believed that for a very long time and that’s why we’re here – the persistence of this group, and the willingness to never quit and get better. This has kind of been the vision for a while.”

A trip to Omaha would only further establish the first-year coach Johnson, who is already Georgia’s only first-year coach to host and win a regional.

Johnson’s transfer portal prowess built a veteran team around the core he inherited in Athens, and then the head coach established a culture of belief and confidence within the team.

Johnson was certainly confident in himself, using his systems to restructure a sliding program in less than a year.

“For us, it just shows that you can come in,” Johnson said. “I heard the term so many times when I got here about rebuild, rebuild, rebuild.

“You just know that you don’t have to rebuild — that you can go out and if you do your due diligence and run your models and everything else you can find a team that can win in your ballpark.”

Indeed, No. 7 seed Georgia has plenty left to prove against the No. 10 seed Wolfpack (36-20) this weekend.

The Bulldogs aim to start proving things early against NC State ace Sam Highfill. The right-hander enters Athens with a 5.35 ERA coming off a solid performance in NC State’s regional.

Highfill surrendered two runs on four hits in 6.0 innings of work in a regional-opening win against Bryant.

Johnson plans to counter with sophomore right-hander Kolten Smith. The team’s strikeout leader is arguably Georgia’s hottest pitcher and will enter Saturday with a 4.41 ERA.

Fellow sophomore starter Leighton Finley has typically opened series for the Bulldogs this season, but Finley closed Georgia’s win over Tech after starting the regional opener two days before.

Smith only threw 82 pitches in Saturday’s regional win over UNC Wilmington before leaving with a forearm cramp.

UGA is 3-2 against NC State all-time, including a 2-1 record against the Wolfpack in the 2008 Athens Super Regional to advance to the CWS.