WHEN: Thursday 6 p.m., Friday 6 p.m, Saturday noon
WHERE: Foley Field
RECORDS: Georgia 40-13, 16-11; Texas A&M 27-23, 10-17
STARTING PITCHERS: Friday – LH Charlie Goldstein (0-2, 6.66) vs. LH Ryan Prager (3-3, 3.82); Saturday – RH Brian Curley (4-2, 3.03) vs LH Justin Lamkin (3-7, 3.97); Sunday – RH Leighton Finley (2-2, 5.30) vs LH Myles Patton (3-4, 5.16).
TV/RADIO: Thursday-Friday: SEC Network+; Saturday – SEC Network; Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Jeff Dantzler, David Johnston)
The Series
It’s the final weekend of the regular season, and there’s a lot at stake for both Georgia and visiting Texas A&M.
For the Aggies, it’s been a disastrous season.
A preseason No. 1, Texas A&M has struggled from the outset, and after last weekend’s home sweep at the hands of last-place Missouri, the Aggies find themselves 27-23, and a mere 10-17 in SEC play.
Whatever slim chance the Aggies have of earning an NCAA bid, at the very least, depends on them winning this weekend’s series against the Bulldogs, plus making a run at next week’s SEC Tournament in Hoover.
Georgia, meanwhile, has much higher goals.
The Bulldogs (40-13, 16-11) are already likely hosts for one of the 16 NCAA Regionals, but can sew up one of the top eight seeds and hosting rights throughout the tournament with a series win over Texas A&M.
Srill, Georgia head coach Wes Johnson said Wednesday he’s not focused on those scenarios. His focus is simply on getting his Bulldogs to start playing their best baseball and stop beating themselves with mistakes that can cost games.
“Yeah, we don't even talk about it. It's kind of like I've told them, you need to have the mindset that the regionals start Thursday night at 6:02 right here. That’s our mindset,” Johnson said. “There's no other way to get ready for it and have that mindset. So, more than worry about standings or wins, you better play a good, clean ball game on Thursday night.”
However, the Bulldogs aren’t naïve, either.
When asked about potentially earning a national seed and hosting rights throughout the tournament, outfielder Nolan McCarthy said, “That would be huge.”
McCarty speaks with experience.
Last year his former team, Kentucky, took advantage of its national seed and rode it to Omaha and the College World Series for the first time in school history.
Georgia, which hasn’t made it since 2008, came close. The Bulldogs finished one out away from the College World Series before falling to North Carolina State in Game 3 of the Athens Super Regionals.
“We can't look too far ahead. Super Regionals are a long way away. We’ve got one game tomorrow and that's all we're really focused on, just winning tomorrow night,” catcher Henry Hunter said. “We’ll just let that kind of thing take care of itself. I mean, when you win, it all handles itself. We’re just trying to play our best ball down the stretch and be at our best in May and June.”
It’s easy to understand Johnson’s concern.
In last weekend’s series loss at Alabama, the Bulldogs rolled to a 19-3 victory in Game 1. However, after that, base running mistakes and too many runners left on base led to Georgia dropping the series, 2-1.
“As you go back and I'm able to look at everything from the weekend, we need to execute a couple more pitches. Obviously, the offense needs to get back on track all the way,” Johnson said. “We left way too many runners on base, I guess, whatever day that was. It feels like a month ago. On Sunday, we had opportunities. It wasn't that we didn't have opportunities. We just didn't get them in.”
Charlie Goldstein gets the nod in series opener
After Kolten Smith struggled in Friday night’s start against Alabama, the Bulldogs will go back to graduate left-hander Charlie Goldstein to open the series against Texas A&M.
Smith (4-3, 4.89) didn’t make it out of the first inning against the Crimson Tide, allowing four earned runs in just two-thirds of an inning.
“Kolton’s just going to come out and pin,” Johnson said. “He's fine.”
It’s been a tough year for Goldstein as well, coming off last season’s elbow injury. The veteran will be making his 11th start. He’s 0-2 with an ERA of 6.66.
However, with the Aggies' predominantly left-handed hitting team, the Bulldogs hope Goldstein’s experience will pay off.
“He’s just got to attack the zone. Just use his stuff, attack the zone, get us off to a good start. If he’ll just go one pitch at a time, he'll be just fine. We have full confidence, full belief in him and who he is,” Hunter said. “He's been through this league many a time. We have the utmost confidence that he's going to go out there and give us a good start.”
This and that
…The Bulldogs are batting .290 with a .566 slugging percentage and an NCAA-leading 127 home runs. They have a .417 on-base percentage, have been hit 113 times, plus are 63-for-72 in stolen bases. The team’s leading hitters are Ryland Zaborowski (.372-16-58, .822 slugging percentage), Slate Alford (.336-16-57), Kolby Branch (.309-13-37), and Robbie Burnett (.309-19-63). Currently, Zaborowski is sidelined, and per Johnson, is day-to-day this weekend. Burnett is on pace to become the first Bulldog since Gordon Beckham in 2008 to lead the team with double-digit home runs (HR) and stolen bases (SB). Beckham had an NCAA-best 28 HR and 17 SB as Georgia reached the CWS Finals.
…In school history, Georgia has had just 13 players with double-digit HR and SB in the same year, and three of them are on the 2025 team: Burnett, Daniel Jackson (11 HR, 10 steals), and Devin Obee (10 HR, 10 steals). Alford, a senior native of Madison, Ala., is having an All-SEC season, ranking in the top 10 in the league in Hits (4th), Home Runs (7th), Runs Scored (2nd), RBI (8th), Total Bases (2nd,) and Slugging Percentage (10th). He is the team’s top hitter in SEC action at .336-10-22. Alford has a team-best 36-game on-base streak and has reached base in 52 of 53 games this season. He is one of two Bulldogs (Branch-SS) who have started all 53 games this year.
…Texas A&M is batting .265 with a .478 slugging percentage and 84 home runs. The leading hitters for the Aggies are Wyatt Henseler (.308-11-32), Jace LaViolette (.274-17-55), Terrence Kiel II (.302-12-25, 11 SB), and Kaeden Kent (.269-10-42). The Bulldogs have posted a 4.82 ERA with 522 strikeouts and 238 walks. Opponents are batting .227 against Georgia. A&M has a 4.33 ERA with 445 strikeouts and 136 walks this season. Opponents are batting .251 against A&M with 53 home runs. Georgia’s fielding percentage is among the nation’s best at .982, while A&M is fielding .971.
