Lipscomb at Georgia

WHERE: Foley Field

WHEN: Friday 5 p.m., Saturday 1 p.m., Sunday 1 p.m.

RECORDS: Georgia 10-3; Lipscomb 5-2

TV/Radio: ESPN 3; Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Jeff Dantzler, David Johnston).

Starting Rotation: Friday - Luke Wagner (2-0, 1.35); Saturday - Ryan Webb (1-0, 0.00 ERA); Sunday - Jonathan Cannon (1-0, 0.00 ERA; will be on a three- to four-inning pitch count(

The ability to use the non-conference portion of the schedule to build depth is always a goal for college baseball coaches like Georgia’s Scott Stricklin.

So far, so good.

Not only have eight freshmen pitchers already made important contributions, but some up-and-coming position players are starting to make names for themselves. That makes Stricklin’s job of filling out his starting lineup more difficult than you might suspect.

It’s a good problem to have.

Although the competitive nature of the guys on the roster can sometimes make it difficult for players who want to be on the field, Stricklin said it certainly beats the alternative.

"We had this talk with our team, because we have so much depth and so many players. When you try as a coach to make everyone happy, you end up making everyone upset,” Stricklin said. “What you have to try and do is make sure everyone is on the same page: this is where we are, this is what we're doing.

“Guys have certain roles. You don't have to love your role, but you have to accept it eventually, and that's when you have one-on-one meetings with players. We've had plenty of those. Guys want to play; they're competitive.”

Despite an abundance of youth, the Bulldogs (10-3) enter this weekend’s series against Lipscomb as a deeper team than fans might think.

The competition takes a definite uptick when Georgia begins SEC play against Tennessee. But heading into this weekend, the Bulldogs currently have nine players with over 10 at bats hitting over .323.

That includes players like outfielder Randon Jernigan (.353) and infielder Josh McAllister (.381), who is expected back this weekend after tweaking his hamstring. There are also freshmen Luke Wagner (.357) and Kameron Guidry (.400).

Thanks to injuries to Cole Tate, McAllister, and Buddy Floyd, Guidry found his way into the starting lineup at short for the final two games against Gardner-Webb. Tate returned to short for Tuesday’s game against Georgia Southern. His hot start at the plate (4 of 10 with four RBI) made it too tough to keep him out of the starting lineup, resulting in Stricklin shifting him to second.

“I always tell them, 'Give me an issue making out that starting lineup, because who do I put in here?' That's what we have,” Stricklin said. “But Kam Guidry has put himself in the position where he'll get some playing time. Even if he's not starting, we can put him in defensively and get a pinch hit. Every hit he's gotten has been a big hit for us. I've been really happy with him."

There’s more to come.

Heralded freshman Parks Harber only has one at-bat thus far due to a wrist injury, but according to Stricklin, is ready to start playing a role.

“Parks Harber is coming back, and he's going to play a little bit this weekend. He had a little bit of a wrist issue,” Stricklin said. “That gives us some more depth.”

The baseball gods can occasionally be very cruel.

Georgia center fielder Ben Anderson knows something about that. After hitting .414 in the Bulldogs’ Covid-shortened season, the LaGrange native entered Tuesday’s contest at Georgia Southern batting a measly .103 before a three-hit performance in Georgia’s 5-2 win seemingly has him back on track.

At least that’s the hope.

"It just got to the point where I was like, I don't know what I can do. I was just hitting the baseball as hard as I could,” Anderson said. “Coach Stricklin was making jokes here and there about how I couldn't catch a break. So, I am glad I got some hits."

It's not as though Anderson hasn't been making contact. Balls have been hit hard, but opposing fielders have either been making great catches, or they’ve been hit right at them.

"Ben is the table setter—the leadoff guy. When your leadoff guy is not getting on base, it makes your offense lag a little bit. It has not been because he has not been swinging well,” Stricklin said. “I'd talked to the TV people before our game (Tuesday) and said, 'Look this guy is hitting .103, and he’s the best .103 hitter in the country.' There are some people in the country who are struggling at .103, but he's hitting the ball right on the screws almost every single time.”

Anderson added wryly that advice on how to break out of his skid has not been in short supply.

"I mean, at first I stuck to doing my own thing,” he said. “But then I still had bad luck, so I started listening. Yesterday, I just tried to relax and do my own thing, which ended up working out. Hopefully, it stays like that."

Stricklin has his fingers crossed that it will.

“He's just had really bad luck. I was happy with his second at bat (last night), that ball just went over the third baseman's head, and he just didn't hit it well. I kind of laughed a little and was like, there it is,” he said. “The baseball gods evened things up a little bit. Hopefully, he gets things going.”

With the return of Jonathan Cannon (mono), Georgia hopes to have its projected weekend rotation intact when the Bulldogs open SEC play in seven days against visiting Tennessee.

Whether or not that happens now depends on the health of C.J. Smith (sore arm), although even if he can go, that doesn't mean the freshmen who have helped to prop up the Bulldogs’ rotation for the past three weekends will not still be playing key roles.

Quite the contrary.

Adding the talented freshman arms of youngsters like Charlie Goldstein (3.72 ERA in 9.2 innings), Luke Wagner (1.35 ERA), and Jaden Woods (5.02 ERA) to a bullpen that’s already received impressive performances from Liam Sullivan (0.00 ERA with 11 strikeouts in 8.1 innings), Will Pearson (2.16 ERA), Collin Caldwell (4.50 ERA), Hank Bearden (2.08 ERA), and Ben Harris (1.29 ERA), should pay even bigger dividends for the Bulldogs moving forward.

“Charlie Goldstein has been great. He’s started, he’s come out of the bullpen. But being able to move guys like Wagner, guys like Jaden Woods. If they go to the bullpen, now all of a sudden, you have more stuff coming out of the bullpen, along with the other guys like Liam Sullivan, Will Pearson, Collin Caldwell, Ben Harris,” Stricklin said. “All those guys (and Bearden) give different looks and it’s tough on hitters. We may be able to really mix and match, kind of what we did (Tuesday night) when we used five different guys and I think everybody was effective.”

Their work thus far also has Stricklin considering a different strategy when it comes to Georgia’s mid-week games.

Instead of having just one mid-week starter, Stricklin said he and pitching coach Sean Kenny are considering a different strategy thanks to their youngsters’ impressive start.

“All these guys are competing with each other—they’re cheering each other on,” he said. “Midweek, that might end up being a bullpen day, just so we have everybody still available for the weekend, although we haven’t decided what we're going to do.”

...Stricklin said on his Thursday radio show with 960 The Ref that C.J. Smith will not start Friday's game after feeling some arm soreness. Freshman Luke Wager (2-0, 1:35) will start in his place.

...Infielder Buddy Floyd (forearm) remains day to day day.

...Stricklin said infielders Parks Harber (wrist) and Josh McAllister (hamstring) are each expected to return this weekend.

With Covid-19 still having an impact on whether or not teams can play, Stricklin revealed that college baseball coaches have taken it upon themselves to help each out in the event cancellations occur.

“There has been a group email that’s been sent around. It has over 300 coaches on it right now—we just copy and paste when we have a series cancelled; it just gets shot out,” Stricklin said. “Unfortunately, I’m getting two or three of those emails per week. Cal-State Bakersfield—it’s not like we’re playing Cal-State Bakersfield, but that’s a team that’s had some issues, whether it was them or an opponent I don’t know. But we’re all on this email chain where, if you can’t play, this goes out, and if you need an opponent, or if you're looking for somebody.”

For example, when Auburn needed to find a replacement after Xavier cancelled due to Covid, the Tigers and Boston College were able to work out a late schedule change, with the Eagles paying a visit to the Plains last weekend.

Other program have been able to do the same.

“Overall, I think schools have had some success of finding opponents now that we’re in the non-league,” Stricklin said. “Once we get into the league, it’s going to be a challenge, because you’re going to have two separate teams, or two separate series cancelled, and then maybe you can match up the other teams. But man, the travel and logistics can be really, really difficult.”