Georgia baseball may have had a tighter game than many expected in its opening outing of the NCAA tournament Athens Regional, but it got what it came for Friday.

With its 8-7 win over No. 4 region seed Army, Georgia moved on in the winners bracket and avoided the difficult road that comes with a first day loss in the double-elimination format. Georgia plays No. 2 UNC Wilmington Saturday night, UNCW routed Georgia Tech 9-0.

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“I’ve been on the loss in game one and had to come all the way back,” said Georgia coach Wes Johnson, whose team is the No. 7 national seed. “We didn’t win that regional but got all the way back to the last game. It really, really taxes, people think about your pitching staff, but at the end of the day too you’ve got to score runs. It really, really starts to wear on your position players. …The first one is good. It’s a tough road back out.”

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Georgia had the packed Foley Field crowd on its side and will be home throughout the tournament until it reached the College World Series in Omaha if it can keep winning.

“Just to see the turnout there today was really fun,” star Bulldog slugger Charlie Condon said. “I think it shows a lot of promise for the future for the future of this program as well. As far as brining a lot of attention back to baseball. …You can feel that energy behind you knowing that it’s on your side and it’s positive for you.”

How to watch Georgia baseball vs. UNC Wilmington on TV, livestream in NCAA tournament Athens Regional

Game time: 6 p.m. ET on Saturday, June 1

Location: Foley Field, Athens

TV channel: ESPN+

Livestream: WatchESPN

Online radio broadcast: Georgia radio broadcast

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Bryan Arendt hit a second-inning grand slam, RJ Sales allowed just three hits before leaving with one out in the eighth inning, and No. 2 seed UNC Wilmington blanked third-seeded Georgia Tech 9-0 on Friday at the Athens Regional.

UNC Wilmington (40-19) will play top-seeded Georgia in the winners’ bracket on Saturday. Georgia Tech (31-24) takes on Army in an elimination game on Saturday. Georgia opened the regional with an 8-7 victory over the Black Knights.

Georgia Tech starter Brett Thomas ran into trouble with one out in the bottom of the second. Alec DeMartino walked, John Newton singled and Brock Wills was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Arendt, the catcher, sent a 1-2 pitch over the fence in left field to give his batterymate a 4-0 lead.

Sales (11-3) left after issuing back-to-back walks. Luke Craig took the mound and struck out Matthew Ellis looking and John Giesler swinging to end the Yellow Jackets’ threat.

UNC Wilmington added five runs in the bottom of the inning to put it out of reach. Arendt was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. No. 9 hitter Kevin Jones followed with a two-run single and Jac Croom capped it with a two-run double.

Thomas (4-2) took the loss for Georgia Tech, retiring just four batters. Camron Hill followed with 3 1/3 shutout innings to keep the Yellow Jackets in it for a while.

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