No. 24 Georgia at No. 19 Mississippi State
WHERE: Dudy Noble Field, Starkville, Miss.
WHEN: Friday - 7 p.m., Saturday - 8 p.m., Sunday - 2 p.m.
RECORDS: Georgia 23-6, 4-5; Mississippi State 19-11, 4-5
STARTING PITCHERS: Friday - LH Charlie Goldstein (4-0, 4.08) vs RH Khal Stephen (3-2, 4.00); Saturday - RH Leighton Finley (2-1, 5.14) vs RH Jurrangelo Cijntje (5-1, 3.43); Sunday - TBA vs TBA
TV/RADIO: Friday and Sunday: SEC Network+; Saturday - SEC Network. Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Jeff Dantzler and David Johnston)
The Series
If you feel like Georgia has been on the road a lot to start SEC play, you’d be correct.
This weekend’s series at No. 19 Mississippi State (19-11, 4-5) marks the third time in four conference series to start the year that the Bulldogs (23-6, 4-5) have played in venues other than the friendly confines of Foley Field.
Of course, it all will eventually even out, starting next week against Missouri.
But until then, Georgia head coach Wes Johnson will worry about finding some success in always-tough Starkville and reverse his team’s 1-5 record in conference road games thus far this year.
“Three out of your first four series on the road in this league is hard,” Johnson said. “All we can do is keep our mental game where it needs to be, our thoughts. We’re strong. I think we’re starting to get some pitching depth that we can start to lean on. If we do those things, I think we’ll be fine.”
For those looking for games within the game, this weekend’s contests feature two of the top players in the entire country.
Charlie Condon’s exploits have been well-documented.
The redshirt sophomore continues to mash the baseball, batting (.481-19-41, 1.130 slugging percentage). A projected 2024 first-round draft pick, he entered the week leading the country in six offensive categories. After going 5-for-6 with two home runs and three RBIs last Saturday, he has shown himself to be human, going 0-for-9 with one RBI in his past two games.
Meanwhile, MSU boasts sophomore Dakota Jordan (.378-14-42), who headlines an offense that is batting .290 with 34 home runs.
“They’re scrappy at the plate. They probably lead the nation in two-strike foul balls. They’ve got two guys in the middle of the lineup who can absolutely hammer the baseball,” Johnson said. “For us, keys this weekend are throw the ball over the plate, play good defense, and let our offense work.”
Back in familiar surroundings
Georgia infielder Slate Alford will be back in familiar surroundings this weekend.
The junior played for Mississippi State the previous two seasons before transferring to Georgia.
Although he expects Alford to be fine, Johnson acknowledges there will likely be some nerves.
“I think Slate is pretty level-headed. He’s a pretty even-keeled guy. There are emotions, there always are, but hopefully, we’ll be able to keep those in check,” Johnson said. “I don’t worry about it too much. We’ll see, I guess, right?”
Last year, Alford started 40 games for Mississippi State, batting .248 with nine homers and 36 RBIs.
Thus far at Georgia, Alford is hitting .331 with eight homers and 32 RBIs in 29 games for the Bulldogs.
He won’t be the only one in familiar territory.
Johnson served as the pitching coach for MSU during the 2016 season when the Bulldogs went from worst to first. The 2016 MSU Bulldogs won the SEC regular season title and advanced to an NCAA Super Regional.
Meanwhile, Bulldog hitting coach Will Coggin played for MSU from 2007-08, has a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the school, and worked as a student assistant coach there from 2009-12 and assistant coach/recruiting coordinator from 2016-17.
This and that
…Georgia begins its second straight SEC road test and third in four weeks, starting Friday at No. 19 Miss. State (19-11, 4-5 SEC). Friday and Sunday’s games will be streamed on SECN+. Saturday’s action will be on the SEC Network. The entire series will be available on the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network.
… In SEC action, Georgia opened by getting swept at UK (24-4, 8-1 SEC), who remains tied for first place in the SEC, then swept No. 8 Alabama (21-7, 4-5 SEC) in Athens. Recently, Georgia went 1-2 at No. 5 UT (24-5, 5-4 SEC) while MSU was walked off twice at No. 4 UF to drop the series 2-1.
…Georgia features one of the nation’s top offenses with an NCAA-leading 82 home runs and a .660 slugging percentage, while its .454 on-base percentage ranks second. The Bulldogs are fifth nationally in scoring (10 runs per game).
…A total of 14 Bulldogs have hit home runs. All-America 3B/1B/OF Charlie Condon leads the NCAA with 19 home runs. Georgia hit 101 home runs last year, which ranked third most in school history. This squad is on pace to hit a school record 162 in the regular season. Condon’s career total of 44 HRs ranks fifth in school history. Condon is aiming to become the first Bulldog in school history to hit 20 HRs in a season twice in their career.
…In midweek action, Georgia dispatched Ga. State 10-1 in Athens while Central Arkansas held on for a 7-6 upset over MSU, as they scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth in Starkville.
