WHERE: Foley Field
WHEN: Friday 6 p.m., Saturday noon, Sunday 1 p.m.
RECORDS: Georgia 18-4, 0-3; Alabama 18-3, 2-1
STARTING PITCHERS: Friday - LH Charlie Goldstein (3-0, 4.08) vs RH Ben Hess (3-1, 3.92); Saturday - RH Leighton Finley (2-1, 3.38) vs LH Greg Farone (3-0, 1.71); Sunday RH Christian Mracna (2-1, 4.00) vs RH Hagan Banks (0-0, 3.18)
TV/RADIO: Friday and Sunday - SECNetwork* (Matt Stewart and Jason Jacobs); Saturday - SEC Network (Dave Neal and Chris Burke); Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Jeff Dantzler and David Johnston).
For Georgia pitchers, it's all about execution
It was a tough weekend to be a Georgia pitcher during last weekend’s SEC opener at Kentucky.
With No. 11 Alabama in town for three games, starting Friday at Foley Field, Wes Johnson’s message has been a simple one.
Throw strikes. Er, make that quality strikes.
“We weren’t in the zone enough, but when we were, the term we use is 5-zone, which means in the middle,” said Johnson, who added the goal this week has been simply getting his pitchers back to executing.
“We could talk about this for hours. Off-speed execution,” he said. “We’re throwing it in the zone, but we’re throwing it in the middle of the plate, instead of off. We’ve got to get better at that.”
Starter Leighton Finley agrees.
The sophomore right-hander allowed three runs on seven hits in Saturday’s 9-3 loss, although the Richmond Hill native was also the victim of some bad luck.
A sure-double play glanced off Finley’s foot and led to a big inning by the Wildcats, who outscored Georgia in the three games 37-15.
“Those things are bound to happen. We’ve just got to stay positive and flush it,” Finley said. “Some of the stuff you can’t control, but you can obviously control a lot of it. All you can do is flush it for the next weekend.”
Finley (2-1, 3.38) has another area he’s working on: getting deeper into the games.
In five starts, Finley has only made it through five innings once, due to high pitch counts early in games.
“We’re getting there. I need to be able to go deeper, be able to throw more,” Finley said. “I definitely need to do a better job of finishing them (hitters), getting that third strike, because right now I tend to get in deep counts, and that’s a big thing with my overall pitch count.”
Johnson said he’s spent a lot of time on video work with his pitchers this week to help get them back on track.
“You show them video of themselves having success, which is what we’ve done. It’s kind of like when a guy does something really good, like Zach Harris on Tuesday night. We’ve worked so hard on getting his changeup back. He throws a really good changeup,” Johnson said. “The running joke is when he comes in, it’s good news, bad news.
The good news is you threw your changeup where you’ve been working on. The bad news is you threw it where I wanted you to, now I expect it every time--a joke. My point is that the pitch doesn’t walk away. It doesn’t have legs, but you haven’t lost anything. Maybe as far as your confidence goes, but you haven’t lost anything, you’ve still got the same stuff.”
Hitting leadoff fine with Corey Collins
To count the number of times Corey Collins has hit leadoff over the course of his baseball career, you just need two fingers.
If he continues to enjoy the success he has, he could be in the role a lot more.
In two games as Georgia's leadoff hitter–last Saturday at Kentucky and Tuesday night against Wofford–Collins is a combined 4 for 8 with five runs scored, three homers, and eight RBI. Of course, over 90 percent of those numbers came during the win over the Terriers. Nevertheless, Collins’ work at the top of the order is giving Johnson pause.
“I quoted the Moneyball line earlier today--just get on base,” Johnson said. “What do you need in front of Charlie? Somebody to get on base. I don’t blame guys, because if you don’t get somebody on in front it makes it really easy to put up four fingers and send him (Condon) to first base.”
Although the sample size may still be a bit small, Collins is definitely getting on base.
The big left-handed hitter is hitting .357 (10 for 28), with 16 walks. That’s good for an on-base percentage of .647, which is actually tops on the team ahead of Condon’s .636.
“I hadn’t hit leadoff till the past two times,” Collins said. “Coach (Josh) Simpson said nothing changes, just get your pitch.”
So far, that plan seems to be working.
Collins has even impressed infielder Slate Alford, who has been Georgia’s primary leadoff hitter this year.
“He did come up to me after the first at-bat and said yeah, I think I like you more there. It was a funny joke,” Collins said. “But no, I’ve just tried to do what the team needs me to. That’s always been my approach. Whatever they need me to do. If the ball is off the plate, I’ll leave it and keep hunting my one.”
Charlie Condon dealing with being pitched around
One of the drawbacks of being a hitter as talented as Charlie Condon: opposing pitchers aren’t going to give you as many opportunities to swing the bat.
Condon’s 23 walks, perhaps surprisingly, only rank third in the SEC, but he’s quickly making up ground. Of those 23 walks, five came during last week’s series at Kentucky.
“I’m constantly talking to him about it, as Coach (Will) Coggin is. We tell him when they are going to pitch to you, be very disciplined to what you’re looking for,” Johnson said. “You’ve got to have that big league approach.”
To help get that point across, Johnson is using a player he was around during his tenure as the pitching coach with the Minnesota Twins: Luis Arraez.
Arraez is a two-time batting average champion, winning the award in the American League while with the Twins in 2022, before winning the National League title in 2023 as a member of the Miami Marlins.
“Luis has a very solid approach, and if Luis comes up and they stick him with a fastball in, he’s just going to move on.
"If he gets stuck in his zone, he’s OK with it. They go back, nobody’s hitting the panic button, saying he can’t hit, whatever. That’s his hole, he knows it, if they get it, tip your hat, and move on,” Johnson said. “That’s kind of where we are with Charlie. You know what you do very well, don’t expand your zone. If they get lucky and hit the perfect slider on you, you’re going to come back to the dugout, and everybody is going to be fine with it. It’s really hard to do that, though.”
