The Georgia baseball team will host Furman at Foley Field for their final regular season home game of the season this evening at 6:00 p.m.
The Bulldogs (22-30) conclude their 2017 home schedule with the Paladins (27-24) in a game televised on the SEC Network and available on the Bulldog Sports Network from IMG. Both teams will employ a staff night on the mound. Georgia will start sophomore right-hander Blakely Brown (0-2, 7.15 ERA) while Furman counters with freshman right-hander Austin Wood (0-0, 12.60 ERA). In records dating back to 1950, Georgia holds a 19-5 edge in the series with Furman. The teams last met in 2015 in Athens, and Georgia won 5-3. The Bulldogs are hitting .256 with 39 home runs, have a 5.02 ERA and are fielding .962. The Paladins are batting .308 with 61 home runs and sport a 4.68 ERA and a .971 fielding percentage.
The Bulldogs are playing solid baseball down the stretch. For the first time since 2008, Georgia has won two straight SEC series over top 10 ranked teams after beating fourth-ranked Kentucky 2-1 in Lexington and then sixth-ranked Mississippi State 2-1 this past weekend in Athens. Georgia went 3-1 this past week, completing a season sweep of Ga. Tech with an 8-7 win at SunTrust Park in Atlanta and then claimed the aforementioned series over MSU.
GAME NOTES
CLICK HERE for the complete game notes for Georgia versus Furman.
Bulldog Hitters To Watch
Junior OF Keegan McGovern (.287-2-16) enjoyed a solid week to lead the offense, batting .538 (7-for-13) with four doubles, four runs scored, four walks and three RBI to help Georgia go 3-1. He hit .500 (4-for-8) with three runs scored and two doubles in the series win over sixth-ranked Miss. State. He had perfect fielding in nine chances too. He began the week by going 3-for-5 with 2 RBI in leading Georgia to an 8-7 win over Ga. Tech at SunTrust Park to cap a season series sweep.
Sophomore C/DH Michael Curry (.308-10-46) is aiming to capture the team’s Triple Crown, leading the squad in home runs and RBI and is second in batting. Teams are pitching around him more of late as last week, he drew nine walks including three intentional plus hit a two-home run in Sunday’s 4-1 win over sixth-ranked Miss. State. Curry has started all 52 games this year at either catcher or designated hitter. He excels in the classroom too as he has made the CoSIDA Academic All-District team as a Dean’s List student majoring in Computer Science. He is on the national ballot for Academic All-American.
Freshman RF Tucker Bradley (.321-0-7) leads the team in batting. He had a career-best 11-game hitting streak come to an end this past Sunday after going 0-for-2 with 2 sacrifice bunts and a walk. During his streak, Bradley batted .460 (23-for-50) as his SEC batting average soared to a team-best .371 (6th in the SEC).
FOLEY FIELD TICKET INFO
*Ticket Booth and Gates open two 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.
Special Promotions for the MSU Series
*First 750 fans receive Utz Potato Chips.
TELEVISION/RADIO
TV: Tuesday on SEC Network (Taylor Zarsour & Jay Walker)
Radio: Georgia Bulldog Sports Network from IMG College (Jeff Dantzler & David Johnston)
Stations: 960 AM-WRFC and selected affiliates (check your local listings), also via the Georgia Bulldogs app and TuneIn app.
Additional coverage and updates on Twitter: @BaseballUGA
For live stats during the game, go to the Georgiadogs.com Baseball team’s page, CLICK HERE, go to the Schedule Page, find the game, click on GameTracker Link.
STATS
CLICK HERE for the 2017 Georgia Baseball Stat Link.
SEC TOURNAMENT UPDATE
With one SEC series remaining, the Bulldogs are one game ahead of Tennessee for the final spot in the 12-team SEC Tournament field with the event set for May 23-28 in Hoover, Ala. The teams are seeded based on conference winning percentage with the division winners seeded No. 1 & 2.
The Bulldogs (9-18 SEC) hold the tiebreaker over UT (7-18 SEC) after winning the series in Knoxville 2-1 earlier this season. Missouri (11-16 SEC) holds the 11th spot and travels to UT while Georgia is at USC (12-15 SEC) as the final series gets underway Thursday.
Fans attending the 2017 SEC Baseball Tournament in Hoover will be asked to enter the event with clear bags and should be prepared to arrive early and to see a law enforcement presence in and around Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, the Conference office has announced. Enhanced security measures, including the clear bag policy, will also be in place at the inaugural SEC Baseball FanFest event in the new Finley Center adjacent to the Hoover Met. The security measures are consistent with procedures exercised at other SEC championship events throughout the year.