SEC Tournament
Georgia vs Alabama
WHERE: Hoover Met, Hoover, Ala.
WHEN: Tuesday, 10:30 a.m. (ET)
RECORDS: Georgia (35-20, 15-15); Alabama (29-25, 12-17)
STARTING PITCHERS: Georgia - Luke Wagner (5-1, 5.11). Alabama – RH Garrett McMillan (4-5, 3.83)
TV/RADIO: SEC Network (Dave Neal, Ben McDonald, Kris Budden); Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Jeff Dantzer, David Johnston).
Georgia’s baseball team enters this week’s SEC Tournament feeling a lot better about its NCAA regional chances than it did one season ago.
Actually, the Bulldogs did not feel bad last year, either.
After beating LSU in the opening game for its 15th conference win, head coach Scott Stricklin thought for sure his team had earned its third regional berth in technically three tries after Covid wiped out the 2020 campaign.
It was not to be. Georgia’s other metrics ultimately kept the Bulldogs at home, despite holding a head-to-head win over an LSU team it had just defeated to advance in last year’s conference tournament play.
“That was discouraging. That was the disappointing thing last year, to finish ahead of two teams in the league, and beat a team head-to-head six days before the selection committee, and have that team that went home, get in ahead of us,” Stricklin said. “It’s never going to make sense to me, and it’s always going to rub me the wrong way, because there were seniors on that team that never got to play another college game because of that decision.”
Fortunately, the Bulldogs (35-20) enter this year’s tournament against Alabama (29-25) in a more advantageous position than they did a season ago.
One, Georgia (15-15 in SEC play), already has won 15 conference games, long considered the magic number for SEC teams hoping to garner one of the 64 spots in the 64-team NCAA Tournament field.
Two, Georgia’s RPI has been among the nation’s best all season. The Bulldogs currently sit at No. 11, after being as high as No. 3 earlier in the year.
Three, Georgia’s strength of schedule is No. 2, which has Stricklin still hopeful that a tournament run could result in the Bulldogs still earning the right to host one of the 16 regionals.
“Your RPI is going to be good no matter what, but if we can add a couple more wins, now we’re going to be a Top 10 RPI, with a strength of schedule No. 1,” Stricklin said. “That’s hard not to host a team that’s No. 1 in strength of schedule and RPI, but I think we still need to get a couple more wins, maybe even three to secure a host.”
First pitch in the upcoming SEC tournament at the Hoover Met is set for 9:30 a.m. Central Time.
Infielder Parks Harber was asked if the early start time could be a problem.
“I don’t think,” he said. “The earliest I’ve played a game is 8 a.m. in the old travel ball days in Cartersville (Lakepoint).”
Senior co-captain Jack Gowen said the team is excited about having the chance to start what it hopes will be a long postseason run on a positive note.
“It’s a big deal. I think everybody wants to go in there and do well. Maybe you go in there and play a team that you didn’t play earlier on, and you want to get a game with them, or maybe you want to show other people around the league you can hang with this team or that team,” Gowen said. “It’s a chance to go in and put a stamp on it, plus it’s all about the SEC. It’s the best league in the country. You’ve got all that talent in one town, you all stay at the same hotel. It’s something you always remember.”
If Georgia wins Tuesday the Bulldogs will advance to the double-elimination round of the tournament against Arkansas, which would also be played at 9:30 a.m. locally, Wednesday morning. If the Bulldogs fall to Alabama, they will head back to Athens to await Monday’s news on where they will be headed for the NCAAs.
“Our metrics are so good, that was the one thing last year, our metrics weren’t as good. They were good, we felt we were good after the head-to-head win (over LSU), but apparently head-to-head wins don’t mean anything,” Stricklin said. “So, we’ve taken care of all those metrics that they held against us last year, plus we’ve added a couple of more wants.”
NOTE: Center fielder Ben Anderson has been named the SEC Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year while junior pitcher Jonathan Cannon made the All-SEC first team in a vote of the league coaches, the SEC announced Monday.
Anderson, a co-captain and native of LaGrange, Ga., has already earned a degree in Biochemistry. He is working on a master’s degree in Comparative Biomedical Sciences with plans to go to medical school after his baseball career.
Cannon, a junior native of Alpharetta, Ga., headlines the Bulldog pitching staff with a 9-3 mark and 3.62 ERA in 12 starts. In 74.2 innings, he has 65 strikeouts and 10 walks on the year. He leads the SEC in victories and ranks in the top 10 in ERA and Innings Pitched. Recently, he was named a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy Award. He is on the Golden Spikes Midseason Award watch list.
