Wes Johnson on Georgia baseball cheating allegations: 'We teach our players to play by the rules'

Georgia baseball made headlines over the weekend during a game against Texas A&M. Pitcher Christian Mracna was seemingly caught using sticky stuff out of the bullpen, with social media’s Jomboy breaking the scenario down. No official word on the situation has been presented by Georgia or the SEC but head coach Wes Johnson did comment on Thursday.

“I’m going to make a blanket statement,” Johnson said to the media. “I don’t have time in my day to deal with online, subjective distractions. We teach our players to play by the rules. That’s just where I’m at.”

The incident occurred on Sunday night, being the final game of the series between Georgia and Texas A&M. Two wins went in favor of the Aggies to start the weekend but UGA had an opportunity to add a nice win to the resume.

Mracna was called upon in the eighth inning with a runner on first base, looking to protect a one-run Georgia lead. He got out of the situation before coming back out in the ninth and closing out the game, giving the program a huge win.

However, people were quick to notice that Mracna may have been using sticky stuff. It first came from a video filmed in the bullpen and then Jomboy explained how it was reapplied once Mracna was out there on the mound.

Fans catch Georgia pitching cheating, a breakdown pic.twitter.com/XfDcDACPOw

— Jomboy (@Jomboy_) April 29, 2024

Mracna has made 13 appearances this season for Georgia, throwing 36 innings. He’s allowed just 19 runs — 16 of which are earned runs — on 33 hits and three home runs. His strike-out-to-walk ratio is just over 2/1 as well, punching out 57 batters while walking just 22.

Wes Johnson hoping to get Georgia back to winning ways vs. Vanderbilt

Scandal or no scandal, Georgia is looking to get back to winning ways after losing the series to Texas A&M. Vanderbilt is coming to Athens in what should be a huge series between the two.

On3’s Jonathan Wagner has Vanderbilt as the No. 7 team and Georgia No. 8 in his latest edition of SEC baseball power rankings. The two are safely in the NCAA Tournament picture but could have the opportunity to be a top-16 seed and host a regional.

Now going head-to-head, taking two of the three games would be a huge push toward hosting. Being at home should help the Bulldogs too, winning three out of their four SEC series at Foley Field.