No. 4 Clemson at No. 17 Georgia
WHERE: Foley Field
WHEN: 7 p.m.
RECORDS: Georgia 29-10, Clemson 32-7
STARTING PITCHERS: Georgia – RH Zach Harris (3-0, 9.49). Clemson – RH Billy Barlow (4-1, 4.64)
TV/RADIO: ESPNU (Sam Ravech and Todd Walker); Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Jeff Dantzler and David Johnston)
Bulldogs sitting well with strength of schedule, RPI
Strength of schedule and RPI are two areas the College Baseball Selection Committee studies carefully when determining at-large bids for the 64-team NCAA Tournament.
Currently, the Bulldogs are looking good in both and have a chance to move even higher with a successful week starting Tuesday against No. 4 Clemson (32-7), before traveling to No. 1 Texas A&M (35-5, 13-5) this weekend.
“You talk about RPI and our schedule; it doesn’t get any easier,” head coach Wes Johnson said. “But that’s why our players signed up to play here, and hopefully, why we’re here and why we’re in this league. We should embrace and be ready for the competition.”
In the current NCAA RPI rankings, the Bulldogs currently sit at No. 11, fifth among SEC teams following Texas A&M (No. 1), Arkansas (No. 2), Kentucky (No. 3), and Tennessee (No. 6).
According to WarrenNolan.com, Georgia’s strength of schedule ranks No 21, behind Ole Miss (No. 1), Auburn (No. 2), Florida (No. 4), Alabama (No. 5), South Carolina (No. 8), Kentucky (No. 16), and Arkansas No. 17).
Georgia and South Carolina sit tied for fourth in the SEC with conference records of 8-8.
The Bulldogs travel to No. 1 Texas A&M this weekend before returning home against Vanderbilt.
Charting Charlie Condon
Charlie Condon ranks as the NCAA leader in six offensive categories: batting (.483), slugging percentage (1.119), home runs (26), total bases (169), hits (73), and home runs per game (.67). The redshirt sophomore has smashed 51 career home runs in only 95 games, and that ranks tied for the second most in school history. He trails Gordon Beckham’s record of 53 in 197 games from 2006-08. Josh Morris hit 51 in 190 games from 2004-06.
This season, Condon has had seven games in which he's hit at least two home runs.
Pitching staff getting healthier
Saturday’s start by Matthew Hoskins certainly qualified as a surprise.
Hoskins, coming off Tommy John surgery, only went an inning as the team will take great care to build up the right-hander. Yet his return qualifies as huge news. The hard-throwing right-hander with a mid-90s fastball was arguably Georgia’s best freshman pitcher a season ago before going down with an injury to his elbow.
If he’s indeed back, that’s going to be a welcome weapon out of the bullpen.
Seeing Charlie Goldstein return with two scoreless innings after not pitching in three weeks with a dead arm is also big news.
Although both players will be on a strict pitch count while they continue to build arm strength, what was perceived as a Georgia weakness is suddenly looking more promising.
Sophomore Kolten Smith’s resurgence also bodes well.
Over his last 10.1 innings, Smith has allowed only six hits with zero walks and 16 strikeouts.
Combined with Brian Zeldin’s (3-1, 2.10) stellar work out of the pen, Georgia’s pitching seems to be rounding into shape as the season hits its final stretch.
Scouting the Tigers
Georgia leads the series 125-110-2 dating to 1900. The teams played twice last year, and the visitors picked up victories each time. Clemson beat the Bulldogs 8-1 at Foley Field, while Georgia edged the Tigers 5-4 in Clemson. This will be the lone meeting this year.
This year, Clemson is led by seniors Alden Mathes (.324-7-23) and Blake Wright (.323-16-50). Senior
Jimmy Obertop (.305-14-31) had a big series this past weekend against Pitt, blasting five home runs as part of a 7-for-14 weekend.
