The Georgia baseball team are on the road in Lexington to take on the No. 5 Kentucky Wildcats in a 3-game weekend series with game one scheduled for Friday at 6:30 p.m. ET. The entire league series will be available on SEC Network+ and the Bulldog Sports Network from IMG.
With three SEC series remaining, the Bulldogs (17-28, 5-16 SEC) are looking to earn a spot in the 12-team SEC Tournament. Kentucky (31-14, 14-7 SEC) is tied with Mississippi State and Auburn for the league’s best record and leads the East by one game over Florida. The Wildcats are 20-3 at home this season while the Bulldogs are 6-11 on the road. In records dating back to 1950, Georgia leads the series with Kentucky 121-89-1. In Georgia’s last trip to Lexington, the Bulldogs claimed a series 2-1 in 2015 while Kentucky took the series 2-1 in Athens in 2016. The Bulldogs are 4-5 against the Wildcats under Ike Cousins head baseball coach Scott Stricklin.
The Bulldogs are batting .261 with an ERA of 5.10 and a fielding percentage of .959. Kentucky leads the SEC with a .315 batting average, ranks fourth in ERA at 3.39 and is 12th in fielding at .969. In SEC action, Georgia is batting .249 with a 5.90 ERA and a .964 fielding percentage while UK is batting an SEC-best .305 with a 4.14 ERA and .972 fielding percentage.
Pitching Matchups For The UK Series
Friday at 6:30 p.m.: Andrew Gist (2-3, 4.05), LHP, Sr. vs. Sean Hjelle (7-2, 3.67) RHP, So.
Saturday at 6:30 p.m.: Chase Adkins (5-5, 3.68), RHP, Jr. vs. Zach Logue (5-4, 4.31), LHP, Jr.
Sunday at 1:00 p.m.: TBA vs. Justin Lewis (6-2, 3.32), RHP, RSo.
Hitters To Watch
Freshman SS Cam Shepherd (.318-5-25) has started all 45 games at shortstop and ranks among the SEC leaders with a .348 batting average in league games. Shepherd’s 61 hits this season and 13 doubles rank among the top 10 in the SEC. Freshman RF Tucker Bradley (.302-0-2) enjoyed a splendid week, batting .550 (11-for-20) with four doubles, four runs scored and two RBI plus perfect fielding eight total chances including an assist. In the series versus No. 8 Florida, Bradley hit .467 (7-for-15) with three doubles and an RBI. He has a career-best five-game hitting streak and his SEC batting average has soared to .370 (17-for-46).
Sophomore C/DH Michael Curry (.324-9-43) is having an All-SEC caliber season, currently leading the Bulldogs in the “Triple Crown,” that is batting average, home runs and RBI, and he ranks in the top 10 in the SEC in home runs and RBI. He has started 45 games (30-DH, 15-C). Also a Dean’s List student, Curry is on the CoSIDA Academic All-District ballot, sporting a 3.37 GPA as a Computer Science major.
Game Note
CLICK HERE for the complete game notes for the Georgia-Kentucky baseball series.
Television/Radio
TV: SEC Network+ Friday-Sunday (Dick Gabriel & Doug Flynn);
Links:
Friday: http://es.pn/2onarj5
Saturday: http://es.pn/2pr35KO
Sunday: http://es.pn/2nCh6ZA
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.
Last Weekend In the SEC
Georgia lost a pair of late leads in the first two games against No. 8 Florida in Athens and ended up dropping all three in the series. Georgia was a strike away from winning game one Friday 4-3 only to fall 6-4. The Bulldogs led 3-1 in the 7th of game two Saturday and lost 6-3. On Sunday, Florida held on for a 4-3 win. Georgia is 5-11 in one-run games this year including 1-5 in SEC contests. Meanwhile in Columbia, S.C., Kentucky won a series 2-1 over the No. 21 Gamecocks including a 19-4 rout in game one.