Florida at No. 8 Georgia

WHEN: Thursday 6 p.m., Friday 6 p.m., Saturday 2 p.m.

WHERE: Foley Field

RECORDS: Georgia 38-12, 16-11; Florida 26-25, 11-16)

STARTING PITCHERS: Thursday – RH Kolten Smith (8-2, 4.72) vs LH Pierce Coppola (0-2, 7.94); Friday – RH Leighton Finely (5-1, 4.45) vs RH Liam Peterson (2-4, 5.92); Saturday – TBA vs LH Jac Caglianone.

TV/RADIO: SEC Network+ (Matt Stewart and Jason Jacobs); Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Jeff Dantzler and David Johnston).

There’s a lot of positive chatter about Georgia’s baseball team, winners of eighth straight games after last week’s sweep at South Carolina.

The Bulldogs have gone from questions over whether the team would make the NCAA tournament, to whether it will host, to now possibility being one of the top eight seeds, which could keep Georgia in Athens all the way up to the College World Series.

While that may be fun for the media and fans to talk about, pondering the possibilities is the last thing on head coach Wes Johnson’s mind.

His Bulldogs are about to play a Florida team – a desperate Florida team – which needs to finish over .500 if it wants to keep its postseason hopes alive.

“It’s like I told our guys after the game Friday, we’re playing the game tomorrow like it’s 0-0. If we need to, I’ll even tell them that we’re down 0-2,” Johnson said. “Let’s not forget, this was one of the teams picked to win the national title before the season started, and they’re desperate. We’re going to have to play our best baseball this weekend or they’ll run us right out of here.”

The Bulldogs (38-12, 16-11) are on a tear.

With an RPI of No. 3 coupled with strength of schedule of No. 6, Georgia can put itself in the conversation to be one of the eight national seeds, should it win this weekend’s series.

While Johnson doesn’t want to talk about those possibilities specifically, he knows that’s a carrot his team does not need to ignore.

‘I’m not naïve enough to sit here and think I don’t need to think about the program and what it means to potentially host and be a national seed, all those things,” Johnson said. “That’s massive, right? Especially in today’s age with recruiting, and different things. It’s massive.”

Keeping a level head will be the key.

After the regular-season finale against the Gators, Georgia takes part in the SEC Tournament which gets underway Tuesday in Hoover, Alabama.

Currently fifth as far as overall conference records are concerned, the Bulldogs can finish no worse than 6th and as high as fourth, depending on the outcome of this weekend’s games.

NCAA Tournament bids go out May 27.

Still, Johnson wants his players to stay in the now. He is leaning on the veterans to lead the way.

“I think the older players get this. We talk about how you’ve got to eliminate distractions. You’re not eliminating them now. You better learn how to manage them. They’re not going away. There’s just too much with what we’re holding right now,” Johnson said. “So, I think the older guys have understood that managing distractions will help us stay focused and concentrate longer, and they’ve been able to impart that down to some of our younger players.

Weekend starter Charlie Goldstein had hoped to pitch in this weekend’s series against Florida, but after sweeping South Carolina, it appears Johnson will hold the senior lefty back until the SEC Tournament.

“Now we’re in a little different spot. I don’t know yet. I’m not going to continue to push him. If he doesn’t throw this weekend, then we’ll see him at some point in Hoover, I will say that.” Johnson said. “I’ll continue to evaluate but at this point I won’t rush him into a game that could put him on the shelf for a longer time.”

Georgia should be in good shape, regardless.

Sophomore Kolten Smith (8-2 4.72) has been the Bulldogs’ hottest pitcher out of the bullpen and will be inserted back into the rotation for Thursday’s first game.

He will be followed by Leighton Finley (5-1, 4.45) on Friday.

Florida will counter with lefty Pierce Coppola (0-2, 7.27) on Thursday, freshman right Liam Peterson (2-4, 5.92) on Friday, and junior lefty Jac Caglianone (5-1, 4.07) on Saturday.

Johnson quickly quipped when asked what he expected to see from this week’s matchup featuring Charlie Condon and Florida’s Jac Caglianone, projected to be two of the top five picks in the upcoming major league draft.

“Hopefully, not too many intentional walks,” joked Johnson, who has seen his star player subject to his fair share of intentional walks this season.

It’s not hard to see why.

Condon has rewritten the Georgia record book. He comes into Thursday’s first game (6 p.m., SEC Network+) as the top hitter in the SEC, batting .454 with 34 home runs, 75 runs, 88 hits, 72 RBI, total bases (210), and a slugging percentage of 1.082. Those totals – except RBI – lead the entire conference.

The Golden Spikes Award which goes annually to the top player in college baseball is his to lose.

Caglianone has not been bad himself.

A two-way player, Caglianone plays first base and serves as the third member of the Gators’ starting rotation. He is right behind Condon in batting average (.418), hits (82), home runs (28), total bases (169), and slugging percentage (.862).

On the mound, Caglianone is 4-1 with an ERA of 4.09. He’s scheduled to start Saturday’s game.

“Charlie in my opinion, and I can back it up objectively, is the best player in college baseball this year at this point and time. I’ve got to think Cags at 2, 3 or 4, right, depending on how you look at him, as a hitter or on the mound,” Johnson said. “Different teams are looking at him differently, that’s why I say 2, 3 or 4 so not to give any bulletin board material. But in my opinion, the two best players in college baseball will square off this weekend. Obviously, Jac will pitch at some point, so that will be a lot of fun.”

… The Bulldogs rank third nationally with a school-record 133 home runs. Also, this year’s squad has hit a school record 11 grand slams. Georgia is third nationally with a .607 slugging percentage and .440 on-base percentage. The Bulldogs are batting .307 with a 5.31 team ERA and a .972 fielding percentage. The Gators are batting .273 with 107 home runs, a .513 SLG%, and .383 on-base percentage. UF owns a 6.20 ERA and a .980 fielding percentage.

… Senior Corey Collins is enjoying a fine year at .367-16-49 while leading the country with a .598 OB%. He ranks fifth nationally with an SEC-leading and school-record 24 HBP this year. Freshman Tre Phelps checks in at .385-9-32. Condon has smashed a school record 59 career home runs in only 106 games This season, Condon has had seven games with multiple home runs including a school record-tying three home runs against Michigan State.

Florida's top power hitters are two-way standout Jac Caglianone (.418-28-55; 5-1, 4.07 ERA) and Colby Shelton (.261-18-44) while Ty Evans (.316-13-43) was injured last week in the Kentucky series.

… Johnson already has set the record for most overall and SEC wins by a Georgia baseball coach in his first season. Also, he will be only the second Georgia baseball coach in school history to lead his team to the NCAA Tournament in his first season, joining David Perno who did it in 2002.