The Bulldogs, under the direction of Scott Stricklin, entered SEC play on a four-game winning streak, but then the Tigers stellar pitching shut down the Bulldogs, holding them to five runs and registering 29 strikeouts in the series. Georgia hit .156 and was outscored 19-5. Seven of Georgia’s next 10 games will be on the road to close out the month of March.
Up next, Georgia looks to bounce back on the road against Mercer (11-11) on Tuesday at 6 p.m., before returning to SEC action at Tennessee (8-8, 1-2 SEC) starting Friday. On Tuesday, the Bulldogs will start freshman LHP Ryan Avidano (2-0, 3.71 ERA). The Bears dropped a series to Bradley this past weekend while the Volunteers went 1-2 against nationally ranked Florida in Gainesville.
Georgia leads the all-time series with Mercer 45-10, and the Bulldogs will be making their first trip to Macon since 2011. That year, Georgia posted an 8-6 win while the Bears beat Georgia 4-2 in Athens later that season. UT holds a 112-96 edge in the series with the Bulldogs. Georgia won the series 2-1 in Athens last year while the 2013 matchup in Knoxville was limited to one game, an 8-7 Bulldog victory, due to rain.
For the season, Georgia is batting .287 with 20 home runs and has been successful in 29-of-35 stolen base attempts. The team ERA is a solid 2.88 while the Bulldogs own a .976 fielding percentage. All Georgia Baseball games are broadcast on the Georgia Bulldog Sports Radio Network from IMG.
The Mercer game will be available on the SoCon Digital Network. The Saturday and Sunday UGA-UT games will be available on SEC Network Plus.
Georgia’s leading hitters are sophomore outfielder Skyler Weber (.338-2-14, 4 SB), junior shortstopNick King (.333-0-5, 9 SB) and sophomore center fielder Stephen Wrenn (.329-2-12, 10 SB). The speedy Wrenn has reached base in all 20 games this season. Also of note, Weber and Wrenn hit their first career home runs last week. Senior first baseman/pitcher Jared Walsh saw his career-best 15-game hitting streak end Sunday. He is batting .302-1-10 and is 2-0 with an 0.86 ERA (2nd in the SEC) on the mound in 21 innings pitched. With sophomore ace Robert Tyler (1-0, 3.86 ERA) still out with a forearm strain and junior David Sosebee (2-1, 1.80 ERA) leaving his last two starts early due to an illness. Walsh is a strong candidate to move in to the SEC rotation for the UT series.
[su_spacer size=”40″] [su_spacer size=”40″]Georgia Baseball Statistics Link
http://www.georgiadogs.com/sports/m-basebl/stats/2014-2015/teamcume.html
[su_spacer size=”40″] [su_spacer size=”40″] This Week’s Schedule (Video Links)Tuesday: Georgia @ Mercer, 6 pm (SoCon Digital Network)
http://www.socondigitalnetwork.com/mercer/game/georgia-at-mercer-on-03172015
Fri.: Georgia @ Tennessee, 6 pm (No TV)
Sat:Georgia @ Tennessee, 4 pm (SEC Network +)
Sun.: Georgia @ Tennessee, 2 pm (SEC Network +)