No. 15 Texas A&M at No. 24 Georgia

WHEN: Thursday 5 p.m., Friday 7 p.m., Saturday 2 p.m.

WHERE: Foley Field

RECORDS: Georgia 19-6, 5-1; Texas A&M 20-6, 2-4

TV/RADIO: SEC Network+ (Matt Stewart and Jason Jacobs); Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Jeff Dantzler and David Johnson).

STARTING PITCHERS: Thursday – Chase Adkins (2-0, 4.34) vs Stephen Kolek (3-2, 1.70); Friday – Emerson Hancock (3-1, 3.50) vs John Doxakis (4-0, 1.59); Saturday – Ryan Webb (1-1, 2.88) vs Mitchell Kilkenny (5-0, 1.86).

Yes, Georgia’s baseball team is off to a great start, tied with Vanderbilt for the top spot in the SEC East. Yes, the Bulldogs have won five straight conference series dating back to last year. Yes, the program seems to have taken a step forward.

But is Scott Stricklin’s team for real? Like anything else, it depends on who you ask.

On one hand, there’s the group that looks solely at the record, the fact the Bulldogs are 19-6 and at 5-1 in the SEC and off to their best start in conference play since 2002. On the other, well, there are those that say not so fast, pointing out Georgia’s two conference series wins came against the last place teams in the East (South Carolina) and West (Alabama).

Senior left fielder Keegan McGovern has heard the chatter.

“Oh yeah. We’ve heard people say we haven’t played anybody that’s hard, at the top, whatever, the case may be,” McGovern said before practice Wednesday. “But I think over the past couple of years we haven’t played the way we’re capable of and I think this year that’s what we’re trying to do – prove everybody wrong.”

Georgia will have no better chance to prove any doubters wrong by how it performs in this week’s series against 15th-ranked Texas A&M, which boasts the top starting rotation in the SEC and a league-leading team ERA of 2.60.

The Aggies (20-6, 2-4) don’t play around.

Thursday night starter (Stephen Kolek (3-2, 1.70), Friday starter John Doxakis (1.59) and Saturday starter Mitchell Kilkenny (5-0, 1.86) each boast ERAs of under 2.00 and will face a Bulldog lineup that ranks seventh in the SEC with a team batting average of .293.

So, prove? Yes, the Bulldogs feel there’s still more they need to show.

“There’s always something to prove to every team and even though we’re putting together a good run, there’s always going to be more that people want to see,” sophomore third baseman Aaron Schunk said. “But we’re playing really good baseball and there’s nobody else in the country that we’re really worrying about right now. Whoever comes in here we feel we’re going to be able to compete with them.”

Stricklin doesn’t disagree and acknowledges the Aggies will provide his Bulldogs with a challenge they haven’t seen so far this season.

“This is a big test for us,” Stricklin said. “Every time we go on the field I feel like we’ve got something to prove and the only way we can prepare for that is come out every single day at practice, keeping our minds right and staying positive. That’s what we’ve done all along, it’s just now we’ve got more experience, we’ve got more depth, we’ve got more talent. We’ve still got more to prove.”

However, the Bulldogs are a confident team.

Designated hitter Michael Curry is fond of using the word “swagger” when asked to describe this year’s Georgia squad, which comes into play winners of seven straight.

“You can call it swagger, but you can also call it confidence,” relief pitcher Zac Kristofak said. “Everybody is going out there with a lot more confidence.”

Schunk concurs.

“Confidence is one of the biggest things you can have in baseball,” Schunk said. “It’s a pretty brutal game to play, and you fail most of the time, a lot more than you’re successful. So, the confidence on the team is huge, because if something doesn’t go our way, we’re able to just shake it off.”

Others are starting to notice.

For the first time in recent memory, Georgia actually comes into play ranked by a handful of media, including USA Today which has the Bulldogs at No. 24 in this week’s Top 25.

When asked, Schunk borrowed a page from Kirby Smart to explain where he and the rest of the Bulldogs stand on that matter.

“Like Kirby Smart says, it’s rat poison. We’re not worried about that,” Schunk said. “We’re just going to do our thing and keep playing Georgia baseball, take it one game at a time.”

Stricklin smiled when told what Schunk had said.

“It’s a little bit of both. It’s nice to be recognized, but at the end of the day it doesn’t mean anything until we get into May and to June,” he said. “It’s nice for people who are outside to recognize what these kids have done, then again, I think we can show that we belong in the rankings these next few weeks. We’ve got a tough road ahead of us. Seven of the next eight teams we play on the weekend are ranked in the Top 25, but that’s how tough this league is.”