Georgia Baseball Weekly Report (26-26 overall, 10-17 SEC, RPI: #30, SoS: #1)

This Week (4 games)

May 17 vs. Ga. Tech at Turner Field, 7 pm (SECN)
May 19-21 vs. Tennessee, 7/7/Noon pm ET (SECN+ Thurs./Fri.; Sat: SECN) and to

Last Week (3-1)

May 11 beat Western Carolina 6-0 in Athens

May 14-15 Won road series over Missouri (W 7-4, L 5-0; W 5-2)
 
 
Bulldog Notes

Georgia (26-26 overall, 10-17 SEC) closes out the regular season this week with an eye on clinching a spot in the SEC Tournament and improving its chances of an NCAA at-large bid. The Bulldogs Strength of Schedule (SoS) ranks No. 1 nationally among baseball websites, and their RPI sits at No. 30, according to the NCAA.

This season, Georgia endured a school-record 22-game stretch against ranked opponents, going 8-14. Overall, Georgia is 9-16 against the top 25 this year. Up next, Georgia faces nationally ranked Ga. Tech (33-18) at Turner Field in the 14th annual Spring Baseball Classic For Kids that benefits Children’s Health Care of Atlanta. The SEC Network will televise Tuesday’s game starting at 7 p.m.

Georgia owns a 9-4 edge in the series at Turner Field. The Bulldogs have won the on-campus meetings with Tech this year, posting a 3-1 win in Atlanta and 13-5 victory in Athens. Then on Thursday, Georgia plays host to Tennessee (26-26, 7-20 SEC).

The Bulldogs are in10th place in the SEC and the top 12 teams advance to the SEC Tournament. Georgia’s magic number to clinch a spot is one. Auburn and Missouri are tied for 11th at 8-19 in league play while Tennessee and Arkansas are tied for 13th at 7-20.

Georgia is batting .251 with an ERA of 4.53 and fielding .968. In SEC action, the Bulldogs are hitting .255 with a 5.31 ERA and fielding .962. The first two games of the UT series will be available on SEC Network+ while Saturday’s final game will be on the SEC Network.

Last week, Georgia went 3-1, blanking Western Carolina 6-0 and then claiming a road series over Missouri.

Georgia’s leading hitters are juniors Skyler Weber (.314-4-31, 11 SB) and Stephen Wrenn (.294-4-23, 12 SB) Weber has started all 52 games with 37 in right field and 14 at catcher and one as a designated hitter. Freshman catcher Michael Curry (.263-11-32) had a monster week, blasting four home runs to give him a team-leading 11 on the year and that ranks third in the SEC. Curry hit .571 (8-for-14) with seven RBI in four starts at catcher. In the Missouri series, he batted .500 (6-for-12) with three home runs, four runs scored and five RBI.

On the mound, senior Heath Holder (4-3, 3.12 ERA) who leads the SEC in lowest opponent’s batting average at .162 and ranks among the top four nationally in fewest hits allowed per nine innings, notched another win this past Sunday to clinch the Missouri series. Junior Robert Tyler (3-5, 4.15 ERA) and junior Connor Jones (5-6, 4.87 ERA) served as the starters in the first two games of the series against the Tigers. Freshman Kevin Smith (5-1, 4.42) made two relief appearances last week and collected a pair of wins with six scoreless innings and five strikeouts.