Czechia’s Daniel Padysak will be leaving Charleston Southern University, where he has pitched the past four seasons, and transferring to the University of Georgia Bulldogs, Czech baseball website milujeme-baseball.com has reported.
Padysak, who suited up for Czechia at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, will now be competing in the premier NCAA Division 1 baseball conference, the Southeastern Conference (SEC), home to the last four College World Series champions. The LSU Tigers lifted this year’s national championship trophy after defeating their SEC rival, the University of Florida Gators, in the championship series in Omaha on June 26.
Padysak’s decision to leave Charleston for Athens, Georgia, comes at an opportunte time, as the Bulldogs announced in early June that Wes Johnson, LSU’s pitching coach, would be taking over the Bulldogs program as head coach. Johnson is highly thought of in pitching circles and has worked with over 30 collegiate pitchers who went on to play Major League Baseball. In addition to his collegiate coaching experience, Johnson also spent three years as the Minnesota Twins’ pitching coach.
Padysak leaves Charleston Southern after tossing just over 176 innings for the program that competes in the Big South Conference, with the just completed season easily his best for the Buccaneers. In 16 appearances, just two of them starts, the Prague native and IMG Academy alum, recorded a 3.19 ERA in 42.1 innings.