Baseball America released its preseason top-25 on Monday and has Georgia’s Diamond Dogs ranked seventh nationally.
Baseball America is the fourth publication to include the Bulldogs in its preseason top-10 for 2020. Georgia has been ranked as high as No. 5 during the preseason, which marks its best since 2009 when it was No. 4. The Bulldogs are in their seventh year under Ike Cousins head baseball coach Scott Stricklin. Georgia resumes practice Friday with Opening Day set for Feb. 14 at Foley Field.
The Bulldogs have sold out their season tickets for the 2020 season, but single-game tickets will go on sale this Tuesday, Jan. 21 at 9:00 a.m. ET. Fans can call (706) 542-1231 to purchase tickets or go online at www.georgiadogs.com/tickets. Single-game reserved seats are $8 while general admission tickets including group tickets (10+ tickets) are $5 each.
In 2020, Georgia welcomes back 20 lettermen and 18 newcomers. Seven starting position players return including two 2019 draft picks in Gold Glove Award-winning shortstop Cam Shepherd and infielder/outfielder Riley King. On the mound, Georgia will have a pair of projected first-round draft prospects in right-handers Emerson Hancock and Cole Wilcox. Also, junior left-hander C.J. Smith, who was a key member of the starting rotation that helped win series over nationally-ranked Vanderbilt and LSU in 2019, is back. Last year, Georgia went 46-17 and set a school record with a .980 Fielding Percentage, and it’s 3.24 ERA was the second-best in school history.
Baseball America chose Vanderbilt as the preseason No. 1 ranked team after going 59-12 and winning the national championship last year. Seven teams from the Southeastern Conference are in the 2020 Baseball America preseason Top-25. Along with the Commodores, the only other SEC team ahead of Georgia at No. 7 is Florida at No. 4. The other SEC teams ranked in Baseball America’s Top-25 are Mississippi State (9), Arkansas (11), Auburn (13) and LSU (14). The staff of Baseball America determines the Top-25 rankings.