The Georgia Bulldogs will conclude their fall workouts with an exhibition against the University of Florida Friday at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.
The first pitch will be at 6:30 p.m., and tickets are $15 (plus applicable fees) and include a postgame concert featuring award-winning country sensation Brett Young and Chase Rice plus a fireworks show. The stadium holds 11,000 and approximately only 2,000 tickets remain. Tickets for the exhibition can be purchased online via Ticketmaster at the following link: http://www.gado.gs/35j
The nine-inning exhibition game will be played at the home of the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, the Double-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. This marks the second consecutive year that the NCAA is allowing schools to play two fall exhibitions. They will not count against the 56-game spring schedule. In Saturday’s exhibition, Georgia plans to use at least eight pitchers, but the exact rotation has yet to be set.
“(Florida coach) Kevin O’Sullivan and I have been talking about it (playing this exhibition) for the past two years,” said Georgia’s Ike Cousins head baseball coach Scott Stricklin. “With the logistics of the tailgating and the events that go on in the city of Jacksonville leading up to the football game, it took about a year to get all those things figured out. We’re thrilled to be a part of it, and it should be a lot of fun.”
The baseball exhibition is part of the “Duval’s Bold City Bash,” billed as the ultimate Georgia-Florida fan experience. The Bash encompasses nearly a week of fan-centric interactive events that celebrate the tradition and excellence of one of the Southeastern Conference’s biggest football rivalries that have called Jacksonville home since 1933. The Bash began today. It will continue through the football game day on Saturday at TIAA Bank Field. This year marks the first time that the baseball teams will battle in an exhibition the day before the football game. Georgia and Florida are expected to be preseason top 10 ranked baseball teams in 2020.
The Bulldogs held their first exhibition on Oct. 20 at Foley Field and posted an 18-3 win over Columbus State. Last year, Georgia went 46-17 (21-9 SEC) and finished the year ranked 15th. In 2019, the Bulldogs swept Florida in a three-game series for the first time since 2006, and it was the first sweep of the Gators in Athens since 1983. Florida ended last season 34-26 (13-17 SEC).