Georgia (27-6), now ranked No. 2 in the latest D1Baseball.com top 25 poll as well as The USA TODAY Sports Top 25 baseball coaches’ poll, will be playing No. 17 Georgia Tech (22-10) for the second time this season. Tech won the first meeting this year, 11-2 in Atlanta in a rain-shortened contest that was called after seven innings. It snapped Georgia’s six-game winning streak in the series after sweeping them in 2017 and 2018. Bulldog junior right-hander Tim Elliottgot a no-decision in the first meeting as he left after 4.1 innings due to a high pitch count. He allowed a pair of runs (only one earned) on two hits with three walks and a career-tying seven strikeouts. In his latest outing, Elliott defeated No. 23 Clemson last Tuesday on the road, going a career-long 7.1 innings with no walks and seven strikeouts as the Bulldogs posted a 5-3 victory. Elliott will start Tuesday. Tech will have a staff day on the mound with junior right-hander Amos Willingham (4-1, 3.89 ERA) scheduled to start.
Dating back to 1898, Georgia holds a 211-163-1 edge in the all-time series. The third game with Tech this year will benefit Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta as the clubs meet at SunTrust Park on April 23. It will be the 17th consecutive year for the neutral site game for charity with the first 14 games at Turner Field. Georgia leads this neutral-site series 11-5.
The Bulldogs are off to their best start since 2009 when that club was 27-6 (8-4 SEC) after 33 games. Georgia leads the SEC after winning its first four series (@ South Carolina, @ Kentucky, home versus No. 5 Vanderbilt, home versus No. 10 LSU). This past weekend, Georgia claimed a series over fifth-ranked Vanderbilt. Tech claimed a series over No. 9 North Carolina in Atlanta to vault in to the national rankings this week.
Georgia’s starting pitchers this year are 20-3 with a 2.14 ERA (43 ER in 181 IP). The team ERA is 2.85 and that ranks eighth nationally. The Bulldogs begin the week leading the nation in Fewest Hits Allowed/Per Nine Innings (5.9). In the series win over the hot-hitting Commodores, Georgia held them to a .129 average (13-for-101), and of the seven runs allowed, four came via solo home runs. Also, of note, the Bulldogs are fielding .980, which ranks ninth nationally.
Senior 2B LJ Talley (.364-5-22) continues to lead the offense. Redshirt sophomore OF Riley King (.320-5-32) hit Georgia’s sixth grand slam of the season during an 8-3 win over No. 5 Vanderbilt last Saturday. The school record is seven set by the 2018 club. Two-way All-America standout Aaron Schunk is hitting .315-5-25 and on the mound is 1-1, 2.65 ERA, 10 SV while freshman OF Randon Jernigan (/265-0-9) went 3-for-6 with 2 RBI and 2 SB in the VU series.
Television/Radio
TV: SEC Network (Jon Meterparel & David Dellucci)
Tuesday Link with 1st pitch at 7:02 pm: http://www.gado.gs/287
Radio: Georgia Bulldog Sports Network from IMG College (David Johnston & Jeff Dantzler)
Stations: 960 AM-WRFC and selected affiliates (check your local listings), also via the Georgia Bulldogs app and TuneIn app.
Additional Coverage on Twitter: @BaseballUGA
Tickets:
Foley Field – Gates/Ticket Booth open 2 hours before first pitch.
-Reserved Seat Tickets: $8; General Admission Tickets: $5
-Order online or by calling 1-877-542-1231
-UGA Student Tickets: Free Admission with valid UGA Student ID Card
-UGA Student Gate is located off Rutherford Street
Promotions
Tuesday: The first 500 UGA students receive a “We Run This State” tank top.