Bulldogs hope to repeat the script

Georgia at No. 1 Arkansas

WHERE: Baum-Walker Stadium, Fayetteville, Ark.

WHEN: Friday 7:30 p.m.; Saturday 7 p.m.; Sunday 3 p.m.

RECORDS: Georgia 27-16, 10-11; Arkansas 34-8, 15-6

STARTING PITCHERS: Friday - LHP Liam Sullivan (1-0, 4.74 ERA) vs. LHP Patrick Wicklander (3-1, 1.89 ERA); Saturday - RHP Jonathan Cannon (2-2, 4.19 ERA) vs RHP Peyton Pallette (1-2, 4.02 ERA); Sunday - LHP Ryan Webb (3-3, 3.04 ERA) vs TBA

TV/RADIO: Friday and Sunday - SEC Network+ (Brett Dolan and Troy Ecklund), Saturday – SEC Network (Mike Couzens and Todd Walker); Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Jeff Dantzler and David Johnston)

The Georgia baseball team has been in this situation before.

A little over a month ago, the Bulldogs traveled to No. 1 Vanderbilt, with few people giving Scott Stricklin’s squad much chance to win the series.

Flash forward to this weekend’s series at Arkansas. This time, the Razorbacks (34-8, 15-6) are the nation’s No. 1 team, and few prognosticators are giving the Bulldogs much chance.

Georgia (27-16, 10-11) took two of three from the Commodores back in early April, and Stricklin is hoping for a repeat in this series that kicks off Friday night.

“It’s the same thing. You’re going in to play the No. 1 team on the road, in a hostile environment, and really nobody outside of our team is giving us much of a shot,” Stricklin said. “We believe we can go in there and win. That’s the only way you can think. We’ll do the same thing. We’ll challenge these kids, we’ve already started that today; we’ll practice in Fayetteville (Thursday) night and we’ll continue to challenge them.

“We’ve got enough older guys that they know what’s at stake. But it's very similar to when we were going up to Nashville. It was us against the world. We’ll just have to play very good baseball and do everything we can to win a series.”

The Bulldogs and Razorbacks are actually more similar than not.

Despite leading the league with 76 home runs, Arkansas’ team batting average of .282 is just five points higher than Georgia's (.277).

The two are also very similar on the mound. Arkansas has a team ERA of 4.16 with 423 strikeouts. Georgi’s team ERA is 3.82 with 328 strikeouts. Razorback pitchers have allowed 34 home runs; the Bulldogs pitchers 39.

Stricklin knows his team cannot afford any mistakes.

“The biggest thing we learned going to Nashville is that if we do things the right way, we’re a darn good baseball team. Of course, that’s the case with every team, but when you swing the bats well, play defense, and you pitch, you’re pretty darn good,” he said. “When we put it all together, we’re as good as anybody, but that’s the toughest part about this league, everybody is so good and so talented, it’s tough to put those strings together. But the biggest thing we learned from Vanderbilt is, we can compete with anybody. We just need to make sure we’re prepared and focused to play our best baseball.”

Even after dropping last week’s series to Auburn, Georgia still stands in good shape as far as postseason play is concerned.

However, the SEC schedule makers did the Bulldogs no favors when they put together the 2021 conference slate.

With three weekends to go in the regular season, Georgia must navigate a trifecta that includes Florida next week in Gainesville before hosting Ole Miss in the home finale.

“Our guys know what’s at stake. We talk about the RPI, we talk about the postseason. Every game is important, and that’s why last weekend stunk,” Stricklin said. “It puts you a little bit behind the baseball, and that means we’ve got to play really good baseball these next three weekends. We’re playing three teams that have all been ranked No. 1 at some point this season. Now it’s Arkansas. It is what it is. But that’s why kids want to play in this league; you want to play against the best.”

...Georgia’s SEC rotation for the Arkansas series will feature freshman left-hander Liam Sullivan (1-0 4.74 ERA) making his first career start in the opener, then sophomore right-hander Jonathan Cannon (2-2, 4.19 ERA) and senior lefty Ryan Webb (3-3, 3.04 ERA). Webb and Cannon were instrumental in leading the Bulldogs to a series win over then top-ranked Vanderbilt. Against Auburn last weekend. Webb was nearly perfect, facing the minimum over six shutout innings in a 4-0 win, but left after only 62 pitches due to back spasms. Cannon provided seven innings in a no-decision. When Cannon left, the game was 3-all, and Auburn outlasted the Bulldogs in 14 innings. Sullivan provided a career-high four scoreless innings with five strikeouts against Auburn last Saturday. Georgia was hoping to get senior left-hander C.J. Smith (0-2, 3.00 ERA) back this month, but he’s now been shut down for the year.

…Georgia redshirt junior right fielder Connor Tate (.351-10-30) is one of the leading hitters in the SEC. He has hit eight of his 10 home runs in league play, where he's batting .337 with perfect fielding in 40 total chances. Tate has reached base safely in 23 straight games. Tate’s 59 hits this year is tied for second in the SEC. Redshirt junior infielder Josh McAllister (.354-8-21), one of the top hitters in SEC action at .351, returned to the lineup last Saturday after missing a pair of games due to a nagging hamstring injury. It marked the third time this year it has sidelined him. Freshman catcher Fernando Gonzalez (.292-2-12) batted .385 with a pair of doubles, a grand slam and five RBI in four games last week. His grand slam, the first by a Bulldog this year, provided a 4-0 win over Auburn last Thursday.