The Georgia baseball team plays host to SEC co-leader, the sixth-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs, at Foley Field for a three-game weekend series starting this afternoon at 1:00 p.m.
Due to the possibility of inclement weather Friday night, the start time of the first game of the series has been moved up. First pitch will now be at 1:00 p.m. ET instead of 7:00 p.m. and the game will be available on SEC Network+. Game two of the series on Saturday will be at 4:00 p.m. and be televised by the SEC Network. Sunday’s game three will be at 1:00 p.m. on SEC Network+. The entire series will be broadcast on the Bulldogs Sports Network from IMG.
Winners of three of its past four games, Georgia (20-29 overall, 7-17 SEC) is playing some of its baseball of the season under fourth year Ike Cousins head baseball coach Scott Stricklin. Georgia captured a road series over then fourth-ranked Kentucky this past weekend, its first over a top five opponent on the road since 2006 (#3 Miss. State 2-1), and then began this week by completing a season sweep of rival Georgia Tech in front of 23,737 at SunTrust Park in Atlanta. The latest win over Tech came in the 15th annual Spring Baseball Classic For Kids to benefit Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Meanwhile MSU, under the direction of first-year coach Andy Cannizaro, shares the overall conference lead with Florida and leads the Western Division by one game.
In records dating back to 1950, the series with MSU is tied at 42. The teams last met in 2016 in Starkville, and the Maroons claimed the series 2-1. Then No. 10 MSU posted a 9-2 win in game one and clinched the series with a 3-1 victory in game two. In the final game of the series, Georgia avoided a sweep by outlasting MSU 11-8 in a nine-inning contest that spanned four hours and 52 minutes.
GAME NOTES
CLICK HERE for the complete game notes for the Georgia Bulldogs versus Mississippi State baseball series.
Pitching Matchups For The MSU Series
Friday at 1 pm: Andrew Gist (2-3, 3.75), LHP, Sr. vs. Konnor Pilkington (5-4, 3.82) LHP, So.
Did You Know? In his last two starts against the then SEC leaders #8 Florida and #4 Kentucky, Gist has a 2.86 ERA in 12.2 innings with 14 strikeouts but has not factored in the decision.
Saturday at 4 pm: TBA vs. Denver McQuary (2-1, 3.57), RHP, Fr.
Sunday at 1 pm: TBA vs. Jacob Billingsley (1-1, 4.63), RHP, Jr.
Hitters To Watch
Georgia sophomore C/DH Michael Curry (.314-9-44) is aiming to capture the team’s Triple Crown, leading the squad in home runs and RBI and ranks second in batting. He has started all 49 games this year. Also excelling in the classroom, Curry has made the CoSIDA Academic All-District team as a Dean’s List student majoring in Computer Science. He is on the national ballot for Academic All-American.
Georgia freshman RF Tucker Bradley (.328-0-4) has come on strong at the end of the season and sports a career-best 9-game hitting streak. During this stretch, he is batting .500 (20-for-40) including a four-hit game and three games with three hits. In the series win over No. 4 UK, Bradley batted .500 (6-for-12). He is batting a team-best .397 in SEC action.
Georgia’s top freshman this season is shortstop Cam Shepherd (.300-5-27) who has started all 49 games, and he’s batting .320-2-10 in SEC action and fielding .946. He was perfect in 21 total chances in the series win over No. 4 UK.
Georgia junior 3B Mitchell Webb (.222-4-14) delivered the big blow in Sunday’s series clincher at UK, an eighth-inning grand slam to break a 2-2 tie, and then he scored from first on a base hit plus an error to provide the go-ahead run in the ninth of this past Tuesday’s 8-7 win over Ga. Tech at SunTrust Park.
MSU’s lineup features the probable SEC and National Player of the Year in junior 1B/OF Brent Rooker (.404-19-65) as he leads the league in nine different offensive categories while closer Spencer Price (3-1, 2.03 ERA) has an SEC-best 14 saves including 9 in league play. Also of note, Rooker is batting .378-10-25 in SEC action while senior outfielder Cody Brown is next at .356-4-14.
STATS
CLICK HERE for the 2017 Georgia Baseball Stat Link.
TICKET INFO
Ticket Booth and Gates open two hours before first pitch.
Reserved Seat Tickets: $8; General Admission Tickets: $5; Order online or by calling 1-877-542-1231
UGA Student Tickets: Free Admission with valid UGA Student ID Card
UGA Student Gate is located off Rutherford Street
Special Promotions for the MSU Series
*Friday: First 1,000 fans receive a Georgia mesh hat; First 750 fans receive Utz Potato Chips
*Sunday: Senior Day as Bulldogs recognize their senior student-athletes
Pregame: Anthem Buddies: Stand on the field next to your favorite Bulldog for the National Anthem
Postgame: Kids Run the Bases and Play Catch in the Outfield for a brief time
TELEVISION/RADIO
TV: Friday & Sunday on SECN+ (Kaleb Frady & Jason Jacobs); Saturday on SECN (Clay Matvick & Mike Rooney)
Radio: Georgia Bulldog Sports Network from IMG College (Jeff Dantzler & David Johnston)
Stations: 960 AM-WRFC and selected affiliates (check your local listings), also via the Georgia Bulldogs app and TuneIn app.
Additional coverage and updates on Twitter: @BaseballUGA
For live stats during the game, go to the Georgiadogs.com Baseball team’s page, CLICK HERE, go to the Schedule Page, find the game, click on GameTracker Link.
SEC Tournament Update
With two SEC series remaining, the Bulldogs are one game behind Tennessee for the final spot in the 12-team SEC Tournament field. The Bulldogs (7-17 SEC) do hold the tiebreaker over UT (7-15 SEC) after winning the series in Knoxville 2-1 earlier this season. Missouri (9-15 SEC) holds the 11th spot. Alabama is in last place overall with a 5-19 SEC record.
This week in SEC action, Georgia plays host to SEC co-leader #6 Miss. State (32-17, 16-8 SEC) while the Volunteers (25-19) travel to No. 10 Kentucky (33-16, 15-9 SEC). Missouri (29-20) plays host to South Carolina (28-19, 11-13 SEC). The 2017 SEC Tournament will be in Hoover, Ala., from May 23-28.
Fans attending the 2017 SEC Baseball Tournament in Hoover will be asked to enter the event with clear bags and should be prepared to arrive early and to see a law enforcement presence in and around Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, the Conference office has announced. Enhanced security measures, including the clear bag policy, will also be in place at the inaugural SEC Baseball FanFest event in the new Finley Center adjacent to the Hoover Met. The security measures are consistent with procedures exercised at other SEC championship events throughout the year.