No. 17 Georgia at No. 1 Texas A&M

WHERE: Blue Bell Park, College Station, Texas

WHEN: Friday 7 p.m., Saturday 3 p.m., Sunday 2 p.m.

RECORDS: Georgia 30-190, 9-9; Texas A&M 35-5, 13-5

STARTING PITCHERS: Friday - RH Leighton Finley (3-1, 5.27) vs LH Ryan Prager (7-0, 2.55); Saturday - Matthew Hoskins (0-0, 0.00) vs RH Tanner (3-1, 4.67); Sunday - TBA vs TBA

TV/RADIO: SEC Network+ (Will Johnson and Boomer White); Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Jeff Dantzler and David Johnston)

Slowly but surely, Georgia’s pitching staff is becoming healthier.

Considering the next stop on the Bulldogs’ schedule is a trip to No. 1 Texas A&M, that’s a good sign for head coach Wes Johnson.

Last week, Matthew Hoskins made his first appearance since undergoing Tommy John surgery. Charlie Goldstein has pitched four innings of scoreless ball since returning from shoulder fatigue, while Chandler Marsh made his first appearance in over a month, striking out all five batters he faced.

Kolten Smith’s emergence is also of note.

The sophomore has been amazing the past three weeks since nailing his location. His last four outings have seen the right-hander pitch 12 innings, allowing no runs on just eight hits with zero walks and 19 strikeouts.

“The challenge this week is you’ve got to get them all back healthy, you’ve got to establish where they fit in and what their role is,” Johnson said. “That’s where we’re at now.”

For Hoskins and Goldstein, it’s still somewhat of a slow road.

Considering it was just over a year ago that Hoskins had Tommy John surgery on his right elbow, the right-hander is on the strictest of pitch counts while building up arm strength.

He’s also been kept on a strict routine.

That’s why he started Game 2 of Saturday’s doubleheader against Ole Miss, but only threw 17 pitches, including a walk and a strikeout. Per Johnson, the Bulldogs will follow a similar format this weekend at Texas A&M, with Hoskins opening either Saturday or Sunday afternoon.

“We really like him as a reliever, but where he’s at is you want him to be in his routine, you don’t want it to be, ‘Hey, just run down there and get hot.” That’s not how those guys are effective when they first get back,” Johnson said. “The other reason we’re starting him is we want to keep him in a routine. You want to build them to a certain pitch count for us, without getting into that, then you feel comfortable once you get to that pitch count if you do want to move him to the pen.”

Goldstein, who missed three weeks with shoulder fatigue, threw 29 pitches on Saturday against Ole Miss before throwing 24 in two innings in Georgia’s 4-3 win that took 15 innings Tuesday against No. 4 Clemson.

All Goldstein did was strike out seven in four perfect innings of work.

Johnson wasn’t sure how Goldstein would be used, if he might start against the Aggies, or if he'd be the next man up after Hoskins.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do with Charlie yet. But that’s what we’re doing, we’re building him back up,” said Johnson, who said the senior spoke with him before the Clemson game, asking if he could pitch in the contest.

“Before the game, we were joking around, I said if it’s in extra innings, you’ll pitch,” Johnson said. “So, when it went into extra innings, he said, you promised, and I said I did, so go get ready.”

With pitching always at a premium, having additional arms benefits the Bulldogs (30-10, 9-9) as they continue their push toward postseason play.

Although Georgia’s this weekend’s starting rotation is a question after Leighton Finley, having extra capable arms is at least giving Johnson more options for matchups and the ability to get through games.

“It’s a way for us to get back, because at the end of the day, it’s about getting 27 outs, right?” Johnson said. “There were times where we just needed six to finish off a game, now we’re starting to get those six, but they’re coming in different waves. There are more options of matchups, which is what you saw (Tuesday) night.”

Johnson hopes more are on the way.

Georgia’s first-year coach was pleased with what he saw from Zach Harris in his two innings against Clemson when his fastball topped out at 97 mph.

Thursday, Johnson was working with Stanford transfer Brandt Pancer before practice, in an attempt to fix the problems that have thus far resulted in his ERA of over 11.

Per Johnson, the Bulldogs will need all the capable arms they can get.

“I’ve said it for years. The minute you think the hay’s in the barn, you’re in trouble. So, the hay is never in the barn. In our game, you’re always one line drive away, a foul tip on the position side, arm fatigue, someone going down—you better coach them all,” Johnson said. “You better have the mindset that you’re getting better every day, every practice you can, and give enough carrots to guys that they want to keep getting better.”

For weeks, fans have been asking why Johnson hadn’t pitched junior Chandler Marsh, who was expected to be one of the key contributors out of the bullpen when the season began.

He changed the arm angle for the big right-hander, who finally became comfortable and ready to pitch.

“The biggest thing with pitching is, it doesn’t matter how good your stuff is, you’ve got to feel comfortable when you’re out there,” Johnson said. “We’re finally getting to a point with Chandler’s arm where he’s finally feeling comfortable with it. There’s no stress on his body, and he’s able to do what he did (Tuesday) night. People think that should happen overnight, but it can’t."

Marsh was impressive. He struck out all five batters he faced, using a knee-buckling curve to silence Clemson’s hitters and earn his first win of the year.

It was Marsh’s first appearance since March 12 against Iowa.

“There have been a couple of times this spring when we tried to pitch him, but it just wasn’t there and we had to keep going,” Johnson said. “We went to Tennessee, I had put him through different drills, and we finally said, OK Chandler, we’ve got to try this one other drill. But we got him in that drill at Tennessee, and it started clicking.”

Two weeks ago, Marsh threw to hitters for the first time in weeks. Again, progress was made.

“His velocity wasn’t very good, but I could see that it was coming,” Johnson said. “Last week, I thought it was close, and he threw a touch on Saturday before the game, and I felt he was there. But he’s still got a ways to go. It’s not a finished product yet.”

Freshman outfielder Tre Phelps appears ready after fouling a ball off his knee two weeks ago against Missouri.

“Tre is trending really hard this weekend in being ready,” said Johnson.

Phelps, who has started 17 of Georgia’s 24 games, is the team’s third-leading hitter with a .354 average

Another Bulldog who is almost ready to return is outfielder Dillon Carter.

The transfer from Texas Tech, with 19 starts in center field, suffered a leg injury on a slide into home plate against Mississippi State and has not played since.

“Dillon, I don’t know yet, he might be another week. I never count them out until Zach (Adams), our trainer comes out and tells me they’re out. So, Dillon is probably a tick away, but Tre, you could see Tre in there this weekend.”

Penn transfer Brian Zeldin was named to the 2024 Stopper of the Year Midseason Watch List by the National Collegiate Baseball Writer’s Association.

The Bulldog fireman is 3-1 with a record of 2.10 and five saves.

“Brian Zeldin has not only been very good for us on the mound, he’s a leader on that staff. He’s extremely intelligent, studies—he’s going to know Texas A&M inside and out,” Johnson said. “Even though I’m in there pushing a button and radioing through, Brian Zeldin knows how to attack hitters. To put a price on what he’s done for our team, we wouldn’t be in the position we’re in during league play without him.”

Texas A&M is not the country’s top-ranked team just for giggles.

The Aggies traditionally have one of the better programs in the league and are currently locked in a battle with Arkansas for the top spot in the SEC West.

Texas A&M has lost only once in 27 home games and is coming off a sweep of Vanderbilt.

However, Johnson said his Bulldogs will not be backing down.

“They’ve got to get 27 outs, too. We’ve got a really good lineup, and we’ve got some guys who are starting to pitch really well,” Johnson said. “Our mindset is we’re going to go in there and play Game 1, and we’re going in there with full confidence that we can win. If that’s not your mindset, then you’re in the wrong business, especially in this league.”

Nonetheless, Johnson acknowledges he’s not sure his team will have a bigger road test than the series against the Aggies.

"Our guys are ready to go in there. It's why you play in this league and when you get No. 1, then you really evaluate yourself. And you get them on the road? I don’t know if there’s a better measuring stick in college baseball than what we’re going into this week,” Johnson said. “But we’re excited. We want to see where we are and our guys ready, man.”