Seventh-ranked Georgia gets back on the road Tuesday when it heads to Statesboro to battle Ga. Southern with first pitch slated for 5:02 p.m. (ESPN+).
The Bulldogs (9-3) face the Eagles (6-5) to start another four-game week. After Tuesday’s game, the Bulldogs return home to prepare for a three-game set with Lipscomb (5-2). Georgia leads the all-time series with the Eagles 57-51-1, however Southern swept all three meetings last year. GSU won 6-3 in Athens, 1-0 at SRP Park in N. Augusta and then 6-1 in Statesboro. The Eagles come to Athens for a single game on April 6. Georgia is ranked as high as No. 7 this week in Collegiate Baseball’s Top 30 poll.
Senior 1B Chaney Rogers (.278-3-11) delivered a three-run walk-off home run to clinch the series with North Florida this past Sunday.
Video Link To Rogers HR: http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=31023803
For the week, Rogers hit .357 (5-for-14) with six RBI and perfect fielding in 18 total chances. Josh McAllister is the other Bulldog with a walk-off home run this year (Gardner-Webb). Rogers, Josh McAllister and Randon Jernigan all have career-best six-game hitting streaks entering Tuesday’s tilt.
Georgia went 2-2 last week, and the wins over North Florida were the club’s first shutout and its second walk-off via a home run this season. Georgia is batting .294 as a team with a 2.88 ERA and a .980 fielding percentage. The pitching staff, which includes eight freshmen, has registered 116 strikeouts but 57 walks.
Preseason All-America RHP Jonathan Cannon will make his 2021 debut Tuesday at Ga. Southern and be on a pitch count. He has recovered from mononucleosis and joins the rotation. Last year, Cannon went 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA in five relief appearances covering 11.1 innings. He did not allow a run and struck out 12. The Bulldogs usually get at least four pitchers action in their midweek contests. The Eagles will counter with senior RHP Jordan Jackson (1-2, 5.79 ERA).
Georgia has already played four different shortstops this season due to injuries: Cole Tate (hamstring), Josh McAllister (hamstring), Buddy Floyd (bruised arm) and now redshirt freshman Kameron Guidry got the nod the past two games. Guidry made quite a debut, batting .500 (3-for-6) with a double, triple, three RBI and perfect fielding in eight total chances. His first career hit was a triple Saturday and then in Sunday’s comeback, he delivered a two-out, two-run game-tying triple in the eighth inning. Tate (.370-1-4) and McAllister (.381-2-4) are two of Georgia’s better hitters with McAllister making starts at second and third already this year. Four shortstops in one season is quite unusual for the Bulldogs who had the luxury of Gold Glove Award-winning Cam Shepherd the past four years who never missed a game, starting 198 straight at shortstop from 2017-20.
The Eagles are coached by Rodney Hennon who is in his 22nd year at GSU. They are coming off a three-game sweep of Towson in Statesboro. The Eagles are batting .295 with a 4.41 ERA and a .958 fielding percentage. Senior Jason Swann leads the club with a .405 average while fifth-year senior Mason McWhorter (.395-3-9) and junior switch-hitter Noah Ledford (.267-3-11) are the home run and RBI leaders.
Radio/TV Links:
All regular season Bulldog games will be available on the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network with Jeff Dantzler and David Johnston bringing you the action. Georgia home games along with SEC road games will be available on the SEC Network+ platform too.
All Georgia baseball games will be carried locally on WRFC 960 AM as it will serve as the primary home for all broadcasts. In Atlanta, Bulldogs fans can tune in to WFOM 1230 AM.
Fans can listen to every game online for free through the official website of the Bulldogs, georgiadogs.com and the Georgia Bulldogs app. Also, games that do not conflict with basketball broadcasts will be available on TuneIn. Live Stats are available via the Bulldogs app too.