A lot of eyes will be on Florida starter Brady Singer Friday when No. 15 Georgia takes on the top-ranked Gators in this weekend’s key SEC series showdown in Gainesville between the two rivals.
Along with Casey Mize of Auburn, Singer is considered one of the best starting pitchers in the conference, a sure-fire first-round pick who figures to be a very rich man in the weeks ahead.
At 10-1, an ERA of 2.33 with 86 strikeouts and just 17 walks in 81 innings, Singer—who beat Texas A&M 6-1 last week in College Station—has been about as dominant as it gets.
His mound opponent for Georgia—senior right-hander Chase Adkins.
Adkins’ numbers (5-0, 4.12) might not carry the same wow factor, but if you look deeper into his history, there’s nobody the Bulldogs would rather have opposing Singer on the mound.
The reason? Adkins has faced off against future first-round picks before—and won.
Last year against Vanderbilt at Foley Field, Adkins found himself matched up against Kyle Wright, who a few weeks later was taken in the first round by the Atlanta Braves. The two matched zeros for seven innings, with Adkins blanking the Commodores through eight before Georgia scratched out a run to eke out a 1-0 win.
“Last year versus Wright was fun," Adkins said. "But you’ve got to look at it like it’s just another game, an opportunity to win for your team, so you go out and try to make good pitches, all that stuff that you would normally do.”
Sophomore reliever Tony Locey has every confidence that his teammate Adkins will be ready, although there’s a part of him that also admires what Singer brings to the field.
“When you talk about Friday night guy’s, Brady Singer is one of the first names that pops up. He’s one of the best in the country. He’s really good, every pitcher looks up to him,” Locey said. “One thing I take pride in, I watch every Friday night guy and see what I can take from them to make myself better. But our hitters are very good, too. We’re a very talented team. If we can get in their bullpen then I think we have a shot.”
Singers' presence makes what’s already a big weekend for the Bulldogs (34-14, 15-9) even larger.
Winners of four straight, it’s looking more and more like Georgia will be in line to host one of the 16 NCAA regionals, possibly earning a national seed depending on this weekend’s series against Florida (39-11, 18-6) and next week’s regular-season finale against Arkansas.
“Last year when Askins went toe to toe with Wright, he really stepped his game up. I think it excites them, and certainly it’s going to be a packed house, a rivalry game, there will be a lot of scouts in the stands, so the natural Adrenalin is already there,” head coach Scott Stricklin said. “But with all the added stuff on the line, the post-season, standings in the league, there’s a lot of different story lines, so when you add it all up, there’s a little bit more drama. But again, that’s why these guys came here—they want to play in these situations. It should be fun.”
Adkins will admit that much.
“It’s all fun. It’s fun pitching against him, it’s fun watching his stuff,” he said. “Shoot, I hope he looks at me and says 'Dang, I like his stuff, too.';”
Adkins has one of the deeper repertoires in the SEC.
With the ability to throw five pitches for strikes, part of Adkins’ success is the ability to successfully adapt on days when one or two of his options aren’t working as well as perhaps they could.
When they are, he can be as tough as anybody.
“Sometimes what works in the pen doesn’t work in the game, and what’s not working in the pen is the best pitch I’ve ever thrown in my life,” said Adkins, whose fastball ranges anywhere from 90 to 92 mph.
He’ll likely need them all to give his offense the best opportunity possible.
“We’ve got to try and get Singer’s pitch count up, but that’s really tough,” Stricklin said. “He throws strikes with plus stuff and everything’s for a strike, his fastball, his slider, his changeup—he can throw them all for strikes.”
