University of Georgia Athletics
Aoki Has Learned Plenty In College Career
February 26, 2026 | Baseball, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
In his Georgia debut, Caden Aoki set the bar really high. Pitching in relief of starter Joey Volchko in the eighth-ranked Bulldogs' season opener on Feb 13, Aoki struck out eight of the 10 batters he faced over the final three innings of the 13-1 win over Wright State.
Strikeouts are nothing new for the right-hander from Huntington Beach, Calif., who led the Big Ten last season with 6.43 strikeouts for every walk while pitching at USC. Over 17 appearances, including 16 starts, he struck out 90 batters in 97.0 innings, with an ERA of 3.99. Aoki had 42 strikeouts in 46.2 innings the year before, and in 2023, he led the Pac-12 with an ERA of 2.98 while also striking out 52 in 63.1 innings.
Aoki was a two-way player in high school, hitting .378 with nine home runs and 25 RBIs his senior year. Pitching became his focus in college, and he loves it. He said his favorite thing about pitching is the personal challenges and opportunities it provides.
"Just knowing that when I have the ball, I'm in complete control of that side of the game. That was another thing when it came to wanting to become a true pitcher, just the fact that being a weekend starter, that day, that game, 50% you could say, more or less, is on you. So you want to be the reason that the team has a chance to win. I think that's really awesome," said Aoki, who pitched as a freshman at Notre Dame before transferring to USC.
Aoki got into baseball through his older brother Connor, a catcher.
"I grew up just looking up to him, and I fell in love with the sport because he fell in love with it at a very young age," he said.
They played together for a season at Huntington Beach High School, when Aoki was a freshman and his brother was a senior, and were reunited in 2023 after Aoki transferred to Southern Cal. It was Connor catching his games while Aoki had a streak of 23.1 scoreless innings and earned All-Pac-12 honors that season.
"It was awesome," Aoki said of playing with his brother at USC. "We thought it was going to be our last time playing together in high school, and to be able to come back together in college was really special."
Heading into this weekend's four-game series against Oakland at Foley Field, Aoki has pitched just twice this season. After his stellar relief outing in the opener, Aoki threw 4.0 innings of relief last weekend against Samford, striking out seven, walking two, and giving up three runs on four hits.
Aoki said he transferred to Georgia in large part because of Ike Cousins head baseball coach Wes Johnson, who has a long track record of developing pitchers.
"He's really hands-on. He comes to the park every day with unbelievable energy, and so you kind of feed off of that," Aoki said. "What he's trying to tell you, you really lean into because you know about his track record and what he's done with other pitchers."
This is Aoki's fifth season of college baseball, and he's learned and experienced a lot along the way.
"As the years have gone on, you learn so much stuff from pitching so many innings and working with a lot of different people," he said. "Now that I'm here under Coach Johnson, I'm learning a bunch of new stuff, and it's great. He always has something new that he wants to work with you on, and he works with you until you get it."
Staff Writer
In his Georgia debut, Caden Aoki set the bar really high. Pitching in relief of starter Joey Volchko in the eighth-ranked Bulldogs' season opener on Feb 13, Aoki struck out eight of the 10 batters he faced over the final three innings of the 13-1 win over Wright State.
Strikeouts are nothing new for the right-hander from Huntington Beach, Calif., who led the Big Ten last season with 6.43 strikeouts for every walk while pitching at USC. Over 17 appearances, including 16 starts, he struck out 90 batters in 97.0 innings, with an ERA of 3.99. Aoki had 42 strikeouts in 46.2 innings the year before, and in 2023, he led the Pac-12 with an ERA of 2.98 while also striking out 52 in 63.1 innings.
Aoki was a two-way player in high school, hitting .378 with nine home runs and 25 RBIs his senior year. Pitching became his focus in college, and he loves it. He said his favorite thing about pitching is the personal challenges and opportunities it provides.
"Just knowing that when I have the ball, I'm in complete control of that side of the game. That was another thing when it came to wanting to become a true pitcher, just the fact that being a weekend starter, that day, that game, 50% you could say, more or less, is on you. So you want to be the reason that the team has a chance to win. I think that's really awesome," said Aoki, who pitched as a freshman at Notre Dame before transferring to USC.
Aoki got into baseball through his older brother Connor, a catcher.
"I grew up just looking up to him, and I fell in love with the sport because he fell in love with it at a very young age," he said.
They played together for a season at Huntington Beach High School, when Aoki was a freshman and his brother was a senior, and were reunited in 2023 after Aoki transferred to Southern Cal. It was Connor catching his games while Aoki had a streak of 23.1 scoreless innings and earned All-Pac-12 honors that season.
"It was awesome," Aoki said of playing with his brother at USC. "We thought it was going to be our last time playing together in high school, and to be able to come back together in college was really special."
Heading into this weekend's four-game series against Oakland at Foley Field, Aoki has pitched just twice this season. After his stellar relief outing in the opener, Aoki threw 4.0 innings of relief last weekend against Samford, striking out seven, walking two, and giving up three runs on four hits.
Aoki said he transferred to Georgia in large part because of Ike Cousins head baseball coach Wes Johnson, who has a long track record of developing pitchers.
"He's really hands-on. He comes to the park every day with unbelievable energy, and so you kind of feed off of that," Aoki said. "What he's trying to tell you, you really lean into because you know about his track record and what he's done with other pitchers."
This is Aoki's fifth season of college baseball, and he's learned and experienced a lot along the way.
"As the years have gone on, you learn so much stuff from pitching so many innings and working with a lot of different people," he said. "Now that I'm here under Coach Johnson, I'm learning a bunch of new stuff, and it's great. He always has something new that he wants to work with you on, and he works with you until you get it."
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files.
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