Georgia Baseball Battles Florida to Save Season
Florida comes to beautiful Foley Field to give the Georgia baseball team a chance to save its season. Cooperation from the Gators is not anticipated.
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The Georgia baseball season stands at the brink of complete disaster as the Bulldogs (21-23, 6-14 SEC) welcome nationally ranked Florida (33-12, 13-8 SEC) to Foley Field Friday for the start of an SEC series. The Bulldogs and Gators do not have any midweek games due to final exams so it will be all arms on deck.
On Saturday, Georgia will honor the 1990 NCAA Champion Bulldogs before the first pitch, celebrating the 25th year anniversary of winning the SEC’s first national title in baseball. It is also Lettermen’s Weekend and Bulldogs from as far back as 1940 are slated to attend including close to 20 members of the 1990 champions.
The Dawgs have endured a torturous season as injuries devastated the team. In particular, the loses of pitchers Robert Tyler and David Sosebee gutted the pitching staff. But pitching was not a problem recently as the Bulldogs scored only four runs in three games and were 3-for-29 with runners in scoring position against Auburn. Meanwhile, Dawg pitchers held Auburn to under five runs a game.
The Bulldog bats did come alive against Clemson in this past week for a 7-0 win, complementing the pitching staffs two hit effort and giving the Diamond Dawgs a rare moment of glory this season as the Dawgs swept Clemson on the year.
But after ending the week being swept in an SEC road series by Auburn, Georgia is left in last place and must out play Mississippi State and Tennessee for the twelfth and last spot in the SEC Tournament. Georgia hopes to get Tyler back for the Florida series and to show the assertiveness at the plate that beat Clemson.
Georgia will look to offensive and pitching aces to lift the Dawgs’ during the stretch run. Bulldog sophomore centerfielder Stephen Wrenn (.315-5-22) has reached base safely in 42 of 44 games this season. He is one of the top defensive centerfielders in the SEC and ranks among the SEC leaders in stolen bases with 21. In SEC action, Wrenn is batting .271-3-7 with 10 stolen bases.
Georgia’s top pitcher this season has been two-way standout senior Jared Walsh. He is 4-1 with a 2.66 ERA in 12 appearances including seven starts while batting .288-2-19 in 33 games including 31 starts as either a DH/1B/OF. Last week on the mound, Walsh made two appearances including one start and went 1-0 with a 1.69 ERA in 5.1 innings. He got the win over Clemson to help the Bulldogs sweep the season series for the first time since 2009, and he pitched in relief at Auburn.
Saturday’s game will be televised by ESPNU and will be a noon start. Friday’s game will be available on SEC Network+ at 7:05 p.m. while Sunday’s game will be a 1:05 p.m. start on SEC Network+.