ATHENS, Ga. — The road to Omaha for the Georgia Bulldogs came to an end with a Game 3 loss in the Athens Super Regional on Monday night.

No. 10 seed North Carolina State defeated No. 7 seed Georgia, 8-5, to claim the final spot in the Men’s College World Series. Georgia ends its season with a 43-17 record, its best since 2019.

“You just get a bunch of guys together who started believing in themselves and believing in each other. I’ve said for years that there is talent in this league, and if you can get the right crew together to have confidence, you have a chance. What this group of men did is something I will obviously never forget,” Coach Wes Johnson said.

The Bulldogs jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the second inning behind freshman Tre Phelps’ 12th home run of the season. The Wolfpack tied it up with a home run of their own in the third inning.

NC State took a 5-2 lead into the bottom of the sixth inning before a sacrifice fly brought Georgia within one. The Wolfpack lineup knocked out two more home runs in the seventh and eighth innings while Georgia could only score one more run in the seventh.

Charlie Condon, who is projected to be one of the top picks in the upcoming Major League Baseball Draft, crushed his 37th home run of the year in the bottom of the ninth to make it a 8-5 game.

But the Bulldogs couldn’t contain that spark and the Wolfpack is now heading to Omaha.

NC State coach Elliott Avent tipped his hat to the UGA players, coaching staff and fans at Foley Field.

“Everything was super, first-class. I mean the fans; we’ve been to some places where the fans cheer for their teams, but they’re as rude as they can be saying things you probably wouldn’t say around your mama. I thought the fans at the University of Georgia this week, I will always great respect for them and pull for them in other sports, as long as they are not playing against NC State. I came away with so much respect for how classy their fans were on the way over and just everything,” Avent said.