No. 24 Georgia at No. 6 Tennessee

WHERE: Lindsey Nelson Stadium, Knoxville, Tennessee

WHEN: Friday, 6:30 p.m., Saturday 5 p.m., Sunday 2 p.m.

RECORDS: Georgia 21-4, 3-3; Tennessee 22-4, 3-3

STARTING PITCHERS: Friday - LH Charlie Goldstein (3-0, 5.16) vs RH AJ Causey (5-0, 1.91); Saturday - RH Leighton Finley (2-1, 3.75) vs RH Drew Baum (3-1, 3.34); Sunday - RH Christian Mracna (3-1, 3.57) vs TBA)

TV/RADIO: Friday (SEC Network - Will Boling and Cody Hawn); Saturday-Sunday (SEC Network - Dave Neal and Lance Cormier); Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Jeff Dantzler and David Johnston)

Since sliding up to leadoff for Georgia two weeks ago, Corey Collins has fielded plenty of questions and comments about the move.

From reporters wanting more details, curious friends, and even close family members, Collins’ move to the top of the order has a lot of people talking.

“Yeah, my dad said, 'I’ve been saying for three years you should be doing it,'” Collins said. “Let’s try to make him right, of course. But no, it’s a funny conversation.”

However, Collins has been no joke for opposing pitchers.

In his first full week as a leadoff hitter, Collins won SEC Player of the Week honors, batting an SEC-best .647 with six homers and 13 RBIs to help Georgia go 4-0.

Of his 17 hits, 10 have been home runs, five coming since the move to leadoff.

Hitting in front of Charlie Condon certainly has its advantages.

"I love it” Collins said. "I’ve grown into it. I told Charlie, man, this leadoff spot flips over quickly. It seems like every other inning I’m getting ready. But no, I really like it. Being able to start the game, set the tone, and get on for that guy behind me.”

After sweeping three from Alabama, Georgia is back on the road for the first of two back-to-back trips to Tennessee (22-4, 3-3). and Mississippi State (18-8, 3-3).

Friday’s 7 p.m. contest in Knoxville will be the first for Georgia since dispatching the Crimson Tide on Sunday after Tuesday’s scheduled game against Mercer was rained out.

“Going into Tennessee, they’re a really good baseball team. We’re good, too, so you just want to go play good. That’s all you want,” Johnson said. “I don’t know if it’s focusing more. I talked to them the other day about concentration more, too.

"There is a difference. You can get distracted so easily on the road that you’d better be able to focus, concentrate, whatever that word is.”

After bouncing back with last week’s sweep of Alabama after dropping three at Kentucky, Johnson’s feeling better about where his team is.

“I like where we are. It’s never good to get swept, but the good part of it was we showed that we can answer after a tough weekend when things didn’t go our way at all,” Johnson said. “So, it was good to see that. You hope you don’t have to answer like that the rest of the year; it’s a tough league.”

Johnson said center fielder Dillon Carter (finger) remains day-to-day after taking a ball off his finger last weekend against Alabama.

“Dillon will be active this weekend, but it will be a Friday decision as to what he can and can’t do over the weekend,” said Johnson, who added Carter was fortunate not to get hit on the hand, resulting in what potentially could have been a more severe injury.

“You look at what happened to Josh Stinson,” Johnson said. “That’s not the case with Dillon.”

Johnson also had an update on pitcher Matthew Hoskins, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery.

“He’s getting there. But here’s the thing with those injuries. and I’ve been around them at the highest level,” Johnson said. “You can be tracking toward something, and you’re always one hiccup away from backing it up another 10 days. I’d like to see him here in three weeks or so. He’s closer than he is further away.”

When Johnson was asked about Georgia seeing its name included in the top 25 rankings, he cut a sarcastic smile.

“If that gets us into a regional, I’ll care about it right now. But it doesn’t mean anything. You look at our schedule. Every team is good. We go to Tennessee, then we go to Mississippi State,” Johnson said. “The magic number–everybody knows it–is 15 (SEC wins). If that (rankings) somehow magically gets us to 15 wins, then I’m fired up about it.”

The Bulldogs are ranked 24th in this week’s Baseball America poll.

“It’s for the fans, and cool for some other people, but us as a team, we know what it takes,” Johnson said. “It’s nice, it shows the guys have been working hard, but as you know, there’s been a lot of teams ranked this point and time in the season that didn’t make a regional tournament. That’s all we’re shooting for.”

In the three games against Alabama, Georgia drew 11,248, averaging 3,749 for the contests at Foley Field.

“That was phenomenal. It was massive,” Johnson said. “Our players were the ones who said man, the ball park felt great. It was jumping. We felt their energy, and I think another reason when you look at road versus home, adrenaline is a real thing.”

Georgia’s next home game is Tuesday against Georgia State.

“Crowds, all of that, it only helps, and it hurts the other team. The other team has to prepare for it, and some teams get nervous in those situations when they haven’t been in this environment,” Johnson said. “But yeah, our crowd this weekend, I can’t thank them enough. They get a piece of what we did this weekend.”

Pregame Notes