Georgia at Florida
WHERE: McKethan Stadium, Gainesville, Florida.
WHEN: Friday 6:30 p.m., Saturday 1 p.m., Sunday 1 p.m.
RECORDS: Georgia 34-14, 15-9; Florida 39-11, 18-6
TV/RADIO: Friday and Sunday (SECNetwork+); Saturday (SEC Network); Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Jeff Dantzler and David Johnson).
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS: Friday – Chase Adkins (5-0, 4.12) vs Brady Singer (10-1, 2.33); Saturday – Emerson Hancock (6-3, 4.09) vs Jackson Kowar (8-2, 2.80); Sunday – Kevin Smith (6-1, 3.55) vs. Jack Leftwich (4-2, 3.96).
For those who still wonder just how good 15th-ranked Georgia truly is, this weekend’s series at top-ranked Florida figures to answer a lot of questions.
The Gators (39-11, 18-6) are the defending national champs, and considered by many a favorite to win the College World Series for a second straight year.
However, the Bulldogs feel they’re pretty good, too.
“They’re going to have a No. 1 right next to their name, but we’re right up there with them,” sophomore Aaron Schunk said. “We’re not pressing, we’re not worried about them, we’re in a really good spot, and we’re going to give them everything we’ve got.”
First pitch tonight at McKethan Stadium in Gainesville is set for 6:30 p.m.
“For us, really the message doesn’t change. Just go out and play really solid baseball. We’ve got to play better than we have the past several games, although we found ways to win,” head coach Scott Stricklin said. “But when you play a team like Florida, you just can’t give them any extra outs; you can’t give them any extra bases. Bottom line is just play with the confidence that we have all year long.”
Obviously, there’s a lot of riding on it for the 15th-ranked Bulldogs (34-14, 15-9). Georgia has been the surprise team of the SEC and is inching ever so close to not only wrapping up a spot in the NCAA Tournament, but also becoming one of the 16 regional hosts.
“When you look at them they’re the No. 1 team in the country and everything, they’ve got all these big pitchers and everything, but we’re playing to host a regional here, win a regional, and host a Super Regional here,” reliever Zac Kristofak said. “I think the fire from this team comes from within, but we’re definitely getting pumped to play a team like Florida to show how good we can be.”
However, Stricklin warns, his Bulldogs don’t need to start getting too far ahead of themselves.
“It doesn’t do us any good to sit here and say ‘oh, we need to win three more games.’ What’s that going to do for us? We just need to go out and try to win on Friday,” Stricklin said. “They asked me on telecast (against Georgia Tech) about Florida and Arkansas and I told them we’re in the fifth inning right here, we’re trying to win this game. We’ll worry about Florida and Arkansas once we get done with it. That’s just got to be your mentality because it’s natural to scoreboard-watch, it’s natural to root for certain teams to help you out in the standings, although in reality it doesn’t help you.
“There’s only so many things that we can control. We just need to finish strong. We do that, we’ll be in great shape.”
