Georgia Baseball set to host Alabama

Georgia baseball has its next victim. The Bulldogs host Alabama and look to sweep another SEC opponent.

Georgia baseball returns home for another sold-out series to take on Alabama starting Thursday night.

The Bulldogs are currently 39-14 overall and 18-9 in the SEC heading into the final SEC series of the regular season.

This team has a chance to become the third team in school history to have 40 wins in a regular season. The other two that have done that were the 2001 SEC Champions who went 40-16 and the 1990 National Champions that went 44-15.

Georgia looks to close out the regular season secured with a top-four seed and a bye for next week’s SEC Tournament.

The Bulldogs are two games behind second-ranked Vanderbilt who has a 20-7 conference record. Arkansas leads the west with a 19-8 mark. Georgia only needs to win one game or have Ole Miss or LSU, to lose a game for Georgia to be a top-four seed.

Georgia leads the country in Fewest Hits Allowed Per Nine Innings at 6.1. The Bulldogs are No. 7 in the country in ERA at 3.21. Georgia’s lowest ERA for a season is 2.97 by the 1958 team, and the next best was 3.26 by the 1967 team.

The Bulldogs opponents are hitting only .195 against the Dawgs this year, and that’s on pace to be a school record.

One of Georgia’s biggest strengths is its pitching. Freshman Cole Wilcox will start Thursday’s game. He has a 2-1 record and a 4.12 ERA.

Co-SEC Pitcher of the Week, Tony Locey gets the start on Friday to try and improve to three straight SEC Friday night wins. He holds a 9-1 record and a 2.63 ERA. Earlier this week he received his second SEC Pitcher of the Week honors.

Finishing up the series for the Bulldogs will be ace pitcher, Emerson Hancock. He has a 7-2 record and a 1.31 ERA on the season. Between Hancock and Locey, the two combine for 163 strikeouts on the season. Locey leads the team with 82 with Hancock close behind at 81.

These two only seem to get better as the season goes on and that’s a great sign headed into SEC Tournament play.

Georgia takes on Alabama who is 30-23 overall and 7-20 in the SEC. The Tide recently defeated Samford on Tuesday and are eyeing for the 12th and final spot in the SEC Tournament.

The Bulldogs and Alabama record is tied at 72-72-2 after Georgia took a 2-1 series in Tuscaloosa, last year. Alabama’s 9-10 on the road this year while the Bulldogs are 25-3 at home.

Georgia’s currently batting .267 with a .421 slugging percentage and a .980 fielding percentage. Aaron Schunk, LJ Talley, and Riley King are all hitting .300 or better.

Schunk’s batting .339 hitting nine homers and 37 RBIs this season. Talley has a .335 batting average with eight home runs and 38 RBIs so far this season. King’s batting .307 with seven homers and 40 RBIs.

Alabama’s hitting a .266 with a .397 slugging and .978 fielding percentage. The Tide’s top two hitters are Morgan McCullough batting .323 and sophomore Tyler Gentry batting .305. Gentry also has ten home runs on the season as well.

Georgia and Alabama’s first game is set for 7 p.m. on Thursday. Then the two teams face off again on Friday at 7 p.m. with the final matchup on Saturday at 2 p.m. which will be Senior Day for Georgia.

Before Saturday’s game, the Bulldogs will honor Talley, pitcher Adam Goodman and graduate John Cable. Managers Sam Carey and Travis Tindall will be honored as well.