ATHENS—-Nationally-ranked Georgia faces 16th-ranked Vanderbilt in an SEC series starting Thursday in Nashville. First pitch will be at 7:02 p.m. ET and be televised remotely by ESPNU. The final two games of the series will be on SEC Network+. The entire series will be broadcast on the Bulldog Sports Network from IMG.
The Bulldogs (22-7, 7-2 SEC) are one of the hottest teams in the country, winning 15 of their past 17 games and sitting atop the Southeastern Conference with top-ranked Florida as both are 7-2 in league play. Georgia is ranked in all four Top 25 polls this week including No. 8 by Collegiate Baseball, No. 16 by D1Baseball.com, No. 17 in the USA Today Coaches and No. 21 by Baseball America. Vanderbilt is ranked as high as No. 14 (Baseball America).
On Tuesday, the Bulldogs posted their latest shutout, blanking Georgia Tech 4-0 in front of a season-high crowd of 3,730 at Foley Field. It capped a season-long eight-game home stand where the Bulldogs went 7-1. Georgia is now 17-2 at Foley Field this year and 5-5 on the road. With another SEC series starting Thursday, Georgia employed a staff night on the mound against the Yellow Jackets as four Bulldogs combined on a four-hit shutout with 14 strikeouts. The Bulldogs pitching staff has registered four shutouts in its last six games and boast an ERA of 3.40.
The Bulldogs are averaging 7.3 runs a game while batting .291 and a .977 Fielding Percentage. Georgia checks in sixth in the SEC in batting and seventh in fielding. In four games last week, Georgia fielded .993, making just one error. In SEC action this year, Georgia is fielding .985.
Offensively, Georgia has been led by junior designated hitter Michael Curry (.358-6-33), senior outfielder Keegan McGovern (.356-10-31), sophomore third baseman/pitcher Aaron Schunk (.301-0-18; 1-0, 0.66 ERA, 3 SV, 13.2 IP, 1BB, 17K) and junior second baseman LJ Talley (.316-2-14). McGovern ranks among the top 10 in the SEC in numerous offensive categories including in runs scored (37), walks (25), home runs (10), RBI (31) and slugging percentage (.721) while Curry is second in RBI (33). Sophomore Cam Shepherd is batting .231 but ranks second in doubles (10) and has 24 RBI and 21 walks. Curry, Talley and redshirt freshman Mason Meadows (.300-2-15) are all hitting over .300 in SEC action including .371 by Curry.
The Bulldogs will start senior Chase Adkins (3-0, 4.76 ERA) and freshman Ryan Webb (1-2, 3.64 ERA) for the first two games of this SEC series. Freshman Emerson Hancock (3-1, 3.29 ERA) is listed as day-to-day due to an ankle injury that forced him to leave his last start against No. 15 Texas A&M this past Friday.
SEC Pitching Matchups: UGA vs. Vanderbilt
Thursday at 7 pm ET: Chase Adkins (3-0, 4.76 ERA), RHP, Sr. vs. Drake Fellows (4-1, 2.72 ERA), RHP, So.
Friday at 7:30 pm ET: Ryan Webb (1-2, 3.64 ERA), LHP, Fr. vs. Patrick Raby (2-4, 2.67 ERA), RHP, Jr.
Saturday at 3 pm ET: TBA vs. TBA
Television/Radio
TV: Thursday—ESPNU (Steve Lenox & Todd Walker); Fri-Sat.–SEC Network+
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