No. 5 Vanderbilt at No. 4 Georgia
WHERE: Foley Field
WHEN: Friday, 7 p.m.; Saturday 2 p.m.; Sunday Noon.
RECORDS: Georgia 25-5, 7-2; Vanderbilt 23-6, 6-3
TV/RADIO: Friday-Saturday (SECNetwork+ with Matt Stewart and Jason Jacobs: Sunday (SEC Network (Mike Morgan and Dave Dellucci); Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (David Johnson, Jeff Dantzler)
STARTING PITCHERS: Friday – Emerson Hancock (6-1, 0.98) vs Drake Fellows (6-0, 3.59); Saturday – C.J. Smith (2-1, 2.49) vs Patrick Raby (5-0, 1.22); Sunday – Tony Locey (4-0, 2.35) vs Kumar Rocker (2-3, 6.00).
Senior second baseman LJ Talley shrugged when asked if he foresaw Georgia entering its fourth weekend of SEC play ranked fourth in the country with a record of 25-5, 7-2 the league.
“I would have hoped,” Talley said before practice Thursday. “Not to be big-headed or anything—we all believe in ourselves and believe we can win every game.”
Thus far, Talley and the Bulldogs haven’t been far off.
With series victories over South Carolina, LSU, and Kentucky already under its collective belt, Georgia is positioning itself for its most memorable season in years.
However, to assume anything in the mega-tough SEC can be a dangerous undertaking. That’s certainly true when the opponent is Vanderbilt, the nation’s preseason No. 1 squad.
As expected, the Commodores are living up to their hype. Vanderbilt (23-6, 6-3) only trails Georgia by a single game as far as the SEC East standings are concerned.
All three games are sellouts, which should only add to this weekend’s highly anticipated matchup at Foley Field, although head coach Scott Stricklin—per usual—is careful not to make the series any bigger than what it actually is.
“Just like the LSU weekend, we all got excited about it because it was a Top 10 opponent coming in, sellout crowds. We’ve played really well, but it’s just like every other weekend in this league. It’s huge. Every game counts the same, but sure, when it’s a Top 5 team, it takes on a bigger meaning,” Stricklin said. “Our guys are excited. I know Vanderbilt will come in here ready to play, but this is what it should be like. Every weekend should be like this. We’ve waited a long time to get to this point, and we’re really excited. But we don’t want to make it any bigger than it is. Every single game this weekend counts the same as last week against Kentucky and against Tennessee and every other game.”
Friday starter Emerson Hancock (6-1, 0.98) said he and the rest of his teammates are excited to be playing in front of what should be three raucous crowds at cozy Foley Field.
“I think it’s awesome. I looked at the website the other day and said, 'Wow, fans are really starting to notice what we’re doing here.' Anytime you get to play in front of the atmosphere we had against LSU—we’re glad the fans are supporting us,” Hancock said. “The fans bring the energy. They bring the vibe around the stadium. When something good happens, to hear the noise, to hear the crowd, to hear everyone getting into it, it’s awesome. It’s fun to play in front of them. Our fans are great.” Talley said knowing Hancock will again be on the mound for Friday’s opener (7 p.m.) is a very good feeling, too.
“There’s something different when Emerson pitchers. You know you’re going to get a good outing,” Talley said. “Just to have a guy like Emerson on the mound every Friday night—we’re very confident he’s going to put up a good effort that’s going to lead us to victory.”
Hancock isn’t the only starter that’s going to be depended on.
By the time Sunday’s game is complete, Georgia will have played eight games in the last 11 days, which Stricklin acknowledges could be a bit taxing on his bullpen. It could still be without Ryan Webb and Will Proctor, which will present a problem if the starters can’t go deep into their respective games.
“When you get into that spot, you need to rely on your starters. And what better starters to rely on with the guys we’ve got. We’ve got a really good rotation, and that’s probably been the biggest story for us, the way they’ve been able to take that pressure off the bullpen,” Stricklin said. “Last year, it was not uncommon that we had the bullpen in during the fourth inning, and when you do that, you wear those guys down and for the long haul, they’re not going to be ready to go at the end of the year. Our starters are the key for us. We need to have quality starts and if we get them, then I like our depth. If we don’t get the quality starts, our bullpen will be stretched a little bit.”
Injury Update
…Catcher Mason Meadows was cleared to return to practice after his scary injury against LSU when he fouled a ball off his face. You can read more about the redshirt sophomore here.
…Stricklin said both Webb and Proctor continue to make strides and are expected to be included on this weekend’s roster, although he’s leaning on erring on the side of caution.
“Those guys are really close, likely both will be on the roster this weekend and available to pitch. We just want to make sure those guys are healthy when we get to the end of the year,” Stricklin said. “We’re not going to push them. They’re making strides, they’re throwing bullpens, they’re throwing to live hitters, so we’re getting healthier. We don’t know if we’ll have them back. We were optimistic earlier in the week that we would have them but now we’re starting think it might be more realistic mid-week next week or Tennessee.”
…First baseman Patrick Sullivan’s situation also remains unclear following the concussion he suffered a month ago at South Carolina.
“Patrick is taking batting practice in and out the last two days. He went to Clemson, he went to Kennesaw State,” Stricklin said. “It’s kind of the same thing as it is with Meadows, when he comes to me and says ‘Coach, I’m good to go, then he’s good to go.’ I trust those guys. They’re not going to make up any stories. They want to play but they also don’t want to hurt the team by not being healthy. So, we’re really close. He’s cleared to play. Patrick will be eligible to play and hopefully we get him in there.”
