Georgia battles No. 22 Georgia Tech Tuesday at Turner Field in the 14th annual Spring Baseball Classic For Kids. The game benefits Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, and first pitch will be at 7:03 p.m. and be televised by the SEC Network.
 
 
Georgia owns a 9-4 edge in the series at Turner Field. This year, the Bulldogs have won the on-campus meetings with Tech, posting a 3-1 win in Atlanta and a 13-5 victory in Athens. Georgia leads the all-time series with Tech 205-161-1. Georgia will have a staff night on the mound versus Tech with an SEC series versus Tennessee starting Thursday. Junior LHP Andrew Gist (3-2, 5.04 ERA) will start for the Bulldogs while Tech goes with freshman RHP Burton Dulaney (2-3, 4.72 ERA).
 
 
Georgia (26-26 overall, 10-17 SEC) closes out the regular season this week with an eye on clinching a spot in the SEC Tournament and improving its chances of an NCAA at-large bid. The Bulldogs Strength of Schedule (SoS) ranks No. 1 nationally among baseball websites, and their RPI sits at No. 30, according to the NCAA.
 
 
This season, Georgia endured a school-record 22-game stretch against ranked opponents, going 8-14 in this span. Overall, Georgia is 9-16 against the top 25. Last year, Auburn got an NCAA bid after going 13-17 in the SEC (34-22 overall) with an RPI in the 20s. In 2011, Georgia had a strong SoS and RPI, went 31-30 including a run to the semifinals of the SEC Tournament, to earn an NCAA bid. Currently, the Bulldogs are in 10th place in the SEC, and the top 12 teams advance to the SEC Tournament. Georgia’s magic number to clinch a spot is one. Auburn and Missouri are 11th at 8-19 in league play while Tennessee (26-26) and Arkansas are tied for 13th at 7-20.
 
 
Georgia is batting .251 with an ERA of 4.53 and fielding .968. In SEC action, the Bulldogs are hitting .255 with a 5.31 ERA and fielding .962. The first two games of the UT series will be available on SEC Network+ while Saturday’s contest will be on the SEC Network. Last week, Georgia went 3-1, blanking Western Carolina 6-0 and then claiming a road series over Missouri.