ATHENS -- David Perno is Georgia’s head baseball coach, but he is starting to talk like a basketball coach in March, lobbying for his team’s NCAA tournament résumé.

That’s easy to understand. The Bulldogs enter the second-to-last weekend of the regular season on the NCAA bubble, riding a conference win streak, but with one of the nation’s top teams in town.

“When you look at everything, we’re in pretty good position,” Perno said Thursday of his team, which is 28-21 overall, 12-12 in the SEC and No. 40 in the national RPI. “You take considering where we were Sunday going into LSU, and then you look 10 days later, gosh, we’ve got a chance to do good things. If you play good this weekend, it creates a lot of momentum.

But there’s the rub: South Carolina (37-12, 16-8) is the two-time defending national champion. So while a successful series for Georgia would be an accomplishment, it will also be a tough task.

“What they’ve done the past two years is incredible,” Georgia pitcher Alex Wood said. “I don’t feel like they do anything extra, they just win.”

Perhaps that’s why Perno was putting the emphasis Thursday on playing well, and not necessarily getting wins. But he did it acknowledging a potential hole in his team’s resume’.

Georgia is coming off a sweep of Auburn, the fifth-place team in the SEC West.

That came a week after salvaging a Sunday win at LSU, which shares the best record in the SEC with South Carolina.

The Bulldogs have yet to be swept in a series this year, but they have not won a series against a team with a winning conference record. They finish the season at Alabama, which has the worst record in the league.

“We’ve got life. It’s not a panic-type situation,” Perno said. “But what is kind of a must is we compete like we’ve been competing, we hang in there. And then yeah, obviously, win a series against a prominent opponent is something we’re probably lacking in. And we’ve got that opportunity this weekend.”

The Bulldogs feel much better about their chances thanks to Wood, who gets the start Friday. The left-hander has emerged as the team’s ace, carrying a 6-1 record and 2.64 earned run average into the weekend.

“He’s been the difference. He’s given us life, there’s no question,” Perno said. “I mean, it could’ve got away from us and his ability to pitch in big games, and not only throw quality innings but quantity innings, to give us breathing time ... . His presence on Friday night makes us a different team.”

Wood lumped himself in with No. 2 starter Michael Palazzone (2-5, 5.45 ERA) as the ones who can give Georgia a chance this weekend. If they each pitch well, according to Wood, they can “beat anybody in the country.”

That will be put to the test against the Gamecocks.