No. 14 Georgia at Alabama
WHERE: Thomas-Sewell Stadium, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
WHEN: Friday – 7 p.m., Saturday – 3 p.m., Sunday - 2 p.m.
RECORDS: Georgia 26-11, 9-6; Alabama 23-15, 8-7
STARTING PITCHERS: Friday - RH Nolan Crisp (0-1, 4.62) vs RH Garrett McMillan (4-2, 3.02); Saturday – RH Jonathan Cannon (6-1, 1.71) vs RH Jacob McNairy (4-1, 5.68); Sunday – LH Liam Sullivan (3-1, 5.40) vs LH Grayson Hitt (3-1, 3-1, 4.12)
TV/RADIO: Friday-Saturday – SEC Network+ (Chris Stewart, Lance Cormier, Kyra Goldstein; Sunday – ESPN2 (Dave Neal and Chris Burke); Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Jeff Dantzler, David Johnston).
It’s another big SEC series for Georgia this weekend at Alabama. If the Bulldogs want to stay on track and in position to host one of the 16 NCAA regionals, then getting its pitching in order is going to be a must.
The problem has been a tricky one to solve.
Season-ending elbow injuries to Will Childers and Dylan Ross, losing Liam Sullivan for a month and Jonathan Cannon for two weeks, stressed the rest of the staff to the point where recent numbers have been downright ugly.
Finding enough pitching to successfully make it through an SEC weekend without games resembling an afternoon at Sanford Stadium has been a problem.
Sunday contests at Foley Field have seen the Bulldogs drop games by the scores of 20-3 to Mississippi State, 18-5 to Kentucky, and 23-9 to Texas A&M. A 17-15 slugfest win at Kennesaw was also indicative of barely having enough gas in the pitching tank.
When you look at the SEC statistics, you’ll see Georgia ranks last in the conference in team ERA at 5.69, a number that jumps to 8.25 in 15 league games.
The good news?
Georgia is getting Cannon (6-1, 1.71) back and the right-hander will pitch in Saturday’s second game. Cannon will be on a pitch count of between 50 and 60 pitches, but any contribution figures to help.
Sullivan is also off his pitch count, so hopefully, the Bulldogs will be able to shrink their bullpen without leaning on the portion of the staff that has not been getting the job done.
“If you just look collectively around the country, you’re pitching 6-8 guys, including the starters, on the weekends. I think that’s what we’d like,” Kenny said. “We had this talk a week ago; we’re going to start using some of you guys more than once. We protected on purpose, February, and March so we were able to do that April and May. Shrinking the bullpen and maximizing the stuff that we have is what we hope to accomplish.”
With Cannon going Saturday and Sullivan (3-1, 5.40) on Sunday, that means former reliever turned starter Nolan Crisp (0-1, 4.62) will remain Georgia’s Friday night starter.
In a perfect word, Luke Wagner (5-1, 4.61), Chandler Marsh (2-0, 3.57), Jaden Woods (1-0, 4.50), and Jack Gowen (1-0, 1.74) figure to be Georgia’s main contributors out of the bullpen, with each an option to pitch more than once during the weekend if the situation calls.
After that, it hasn’t been pretty.
Nine other pitchers have ERAs that range from 6.75 to 23.14, so it’s easy to understand why Kenny and head coach Scott Stricklin will be looking to shrink their bullpen for the second half of the SEC schedule.
Kenny would love for another pitcher to step up in the manner that Crisp did.
“That’s been the hardest part for us, just to put everybody in the right spot for the individual and for us. We just threw him in there because we knew he was tough, he throws strikes, he’d compete, and he settled right in there. That’s trial and error,” Kenny said. “I’d love to tell you that was research, but it wasn’t."
Finding ways to keep the other pitchers confident, even though their opportunities figure to be reduced, is Kenny’s biggest challenge.
“We just had a live session and Coleman Willis was up to 97 with an 87-mph slider. It’s always been there, but from a confidence standpoint, it’s about trying to get them in a position where they feel good about themselves,” Kenny said. “Unfortunately, the SEC is not a place where you typically build confidence, and that’s the hard part—what we’re going through right now. The thing we’re trying to do as a team and as a pitching staff is to try to get these guys to understand that they’re still good players. It’s just an unforgiving league. But you’ve just got to stay with it. You don’t need to change a ton. You’ve just got to stay the course.”
More mound work for Marshall?
The final out of last Sunday’s 23-9 loss to Texas A&M may have been a relief for most, but for Shane Marshall it was an opportunity to show what he could do from the mound.
Considering Marshall is a backup catcher for the Bulldogs, this also qualified as news.
Especially after Marshall fired fastballs of 94-95 mph, before retiring the lone batter he faced to end the game.
“I was actually pretty surprised. The adrenalin maybe got the best of me,” Marshall said. “I hit 95 and my jaw just kind of dropped, because the last time I was out there, and it was only up to 88-92.”
Whatever the velocity, his effort begged the question: Could Marshall see more time pitching before the season is complete?
Considering he pitched a little bit for the Bulldogs in the fall, he could be.
“With five weeks to go in the regular season, I wouldn’t be shocked if Shane Marshall throws an inning a week, just to take some stress off some guys,” Stricklin said. “I think early on, those first couple of innings, we want them to be in a comfortable situation. We’re not going to throw him in a 3-2 game right away, it’s not fair to him. But we’d like him to get some outings under his belt and maybe by the end of the season, give him some of those high-level situations.”
That suits Marshall just fine.
“I just went out there and tried to take advantage of my opportunity,” Marshall said. “I’ve been kind of begging Coach Kenny, kind of bugging him about letting me throw a bullpen, maybe hop in there. But no, I felt good to get out there. I hope some more opportunities come up.”
