WHAT: Charlotte at Georgia
WHERE: Foley Field
WHEN: Friday 5 p.m., Saturday 4 p.m., Sunday 1 p.m. (Due to rain the teams have tentatively agreed to play a doubleheader Saturday which would start at 1. A final decision will be made Friday)
RECORDS: Georgia 3-1, Charlotte 3-1
PITCHING MATCUPS: Friday – Kevin Smith (0-0, 12.46) vs Matt Brooks (0-0, 1.93); Saturday – Emerson Hancock (0-0, 0.00) vs Josh Maciekewski (1-0, 0.00); Sunday – Chase Adkins (0-0, 0.00) vs Jonah Patten (1-0, 5.40)
TV/RADIO: All games will be televised on SEC Network-plus; Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Jeff Dantzler, David Johnson).
Keegan McGovern will be the first to tell you he didn’t feel like himself last spring. So, over the summer, he decided to do something about it – he lost some weight.
We’re not just talking about two or three pounds.
No, the senior leftfielder did a lot more than that. McGovern dropped 28 pounds down to his current weight of 220, a loss he partly credits for his fast start four games into Georgia’s 2018 campaign.
“One of the big things I see is my speed in the outfield,” McGovern said before practice Thursday. “I feel more fluid and smooth when I run around, I have that extra step now that I didn’t have last year.”
That’s not all.
At the plate, McGovern said he also feels like a different man.
“Last year when I had all that weight on me my hands were a little bit slow, and I wasn’t able to get to those pitches,” he said. “Now I feel relaxed and quick throughout the zone.”
His early numbers have been impressive.
McGovern comes into Friday’s first of three contests against Charlotte (5 p.m.) batting .467, with two home runs – his total in 189 at-bats last year – and six RBI.
“He looks so athletic. He was so big and strong last year, and that was by design, because he wanted to get bigger and stronger,” Georgia head coach Scott Stricklin said. “He wanted to hit more home runs, but I think that translated to him slowing down a little bit with his bat speed.”
No longer.
Not only is McGovern quick enough to turn on an inside pitch, but even with the weight loss, he’s strong enough to hit with power to opposite field.
In 313 career at-bats, the left-handed hitting McGovern said he had never hit an opposite-field home run until he launched one against Kennesaw State in Wednesday’s 14-4 win.
“I tried to change my swing in the off-season, to try to create a little more lift on the ball,” McGovern said. “But other than that, it’s just about being relaxed and confident and getting the pitch I can put a good swing on.”
With four walks and just two strikeouts in Georgia’s four games, McGovern’s making Stricklin’s decision to slot him into the two-hole in the Bulldog lineup the correct one.
“When you think about it from a pitcher’s perspective, that’s a big, strong physical guy you’ve got to face in the two-hole, you’ve got to be careful with him and he’s a selective hitter,” Stricklin said. “He’ll get on base and that will help out Shepherd and Curry behind him, but you throw it in there. It’s encouraging to see the kind of start he’s had.”
