Lipscomb at Georgia
WHERE: Foley Field
WHEN: Friday 2 p.m., Saturday 2 p.m., Sunday 1 p.m.
RECORDS: Georgia 10-3, Lipscomb 9-4
STARTING PITCHERS: Friday – Jonathan Cannon (2-1, 2.66) vs Kaleb Kantola (1-0, 2.63); Saturday – Liam Sullivan (1-1, 5.59) vs Logan Van Treek (0-1, 8.71); Sunday – Garrett Brown (0-0, 1.59) vs Ike Buxton (1-0, 2.45)
TV/RADIO: SEC Network+ (Matt Stewart and Jason Jacobs); Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Jeff Dantzler and David Johnston)
The college baseball is season is just three weeks old, but already there seems to be an uptick of pitchers coming down with season-ending arm ailments.
We’ve seen it across the sport.
Mississippi State’s star pitcher Landon Sims had to come out of a game last weekend in the fourth inning, while Texas lost talented sophomore Tanner Witt to a torn UCL earlier this week.
Across the SEC, rare is the team that hasn’t been affected. That’s unfortunately true for the Bulldogs.
Already without Sunday starter Dylan Ross for the rest of the year, head coach Scott Stricklin revealed that Will Childers will be out for the foreseeable future after coming out in the second inning of Tuesday’s game with Georgia Southern.
Childers was pitching for the first time since undergoing Tommy John surgery.
This is certainly not the kind of news Stricklin was hoping for. Both Ross and Childers were two pitchers expected to play integral roles. But now that it's no longer the case, others are going to have to step up.
“(Wednesday night) we had some guys step up in the bullpen, and that’s what we’re going to need to hold the fort without Dylan and Will Childers,” Stricklin told UGASports Thursday afternoon.
The weekend rotation shapes up the same.
Jonathan Cannon (2-1, 2.66) gets the call in Friday’s opener against Lipscomb, with Liam Sullivan (1-1, 5.59) on Saturday and Garrett Brown (0-0, 1.59) in place of Ross on Sunday.
One name to keep an eye on is freshman Chandler Marsh.
At 6-foot-5 and 228 pounds, the right-hander has only pitched 3.1 innings but has been impressive. During Wednesday’s 5-1 win at Georgia Southern, Marsh was able to escape a bases-loaded nobody-out jam to keep the Eagles at bay.
“Chandler Marsh has gone two times in sticky situations and has been really good. The thing that’s encouraging when we’ve been scrimmaging, he’s been 90-92, which is good. But all of a sudden. we get into games, and he’s been 94-95,” Stricklin said. “He’s got a little mean streak in him, he’s really competitive, he’s got the right mental makeup so that’s been really encouraging.”
Stricklin said Marsh could ultimately figure into the starting rotation, perhaps in a mid-week role.
One pitcher who will stay in the bullpen for now is sophomore left-hander Jaden Woods.
The former Houston County star (0-0, 3.21) has been invaluable as a mid- and late-inning reliever, and with several relievers yet to hit their respective stride, Stricklin wants to keep him where he is.
“You could argue putting him in the starting rotation, but what we’re thinking, if it’s close in the fifth inning, like it was last night, you put him in there to kind of settle the game down,” Stricklin said. “He can give you three, four maybe five innings late in a game. If it’s fifth inning, seventh inning, or ninth inning, I think it’s Jaden Woods ball.”
Along with closer Jack Gowen and left-handed set-up man Collin Caldwell will continue to make up the main three in the back of the Georgia bullpen.
Both hurlers were very effective in Wednesday’s win at Georgia Southern.
“Gowen was good. Caldwell was probably the best I’ve seen him last night,” Stricklin said, “All four of those guys really, really look good.”
NOTE: Third baseman Josh McAllister practiced with the team Thursday, just two days after getting hit in the face against Georgia Southern.
According to Stricklin, McAllister will wear a protective mask both at the plate and in the field. He could see action this weekend against Lipscomb.
