ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia opens Southeastern Conference action on Friday in Lexington against Kentucky.
First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. The entire series will be streamed on SECN+ and be available on the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network.
The Bulldogs (17-1) are off to a record start in year one under Ike Cousins head baseball coach Wes Johnson. The only baseball team with a better mark in school history was the 1908 Southern Champions that went 20-2, and the two losses were to a pair of professional teams.
Top 25 Ranking: Georgia made its 2024 debut in the national team rankings this week at No. 25 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll (NCBWA). This is the first ranking for the Bulldogs since the 2022 season when they were regulars in the weekly polls, reaching as high as No. 5.There are five national top 25 polls: Baseball America, D1Baseball, NCWBA, Perfect Game and USA Today Coaches.
Position Flexibility Equals Lineup Flexibility: Seventeen different Bulldogs have started a game while a trio of Bulldogs (Charlie Condon, Paul Toetz and Logan Jordan) have started at five different positions while freshmen Tre Phelps has started at four different spots. Also, Georgia has used 22 pitchers this year.
Bulldogs Bashing Baseball: Sophomore All-America Charlie Condon headlines an offense that leads the NCAA with 52 home runs and a .684 slugging percentage while ranking third in on base percentage at .477. Condon is the national leader with a .569 batting average, a .670 on base percentage, a 1.308 slugging percentage, 13 home runs, 37 hits and 31 runs scored. This season, Condon has made starts at third base, first base and all three outfield spots with a 1.000 fielding percentage in 52 total chances. Condon has 18 walks and only 10 strikeouts.
Did You Know? Thirteen different Bulldogs have hit a home run this season. Last week, five Bulldogs combined to hit six grand slams. The single season school record for grand slams is eight set by the 2019 club. Georgia got grand slams from junior Slate Alford (two), sophomore Kolby Branch, senior Corey Collins, graduate Dylan Goldstein and senior Fernando Gonzalez. Alford hit .414 with four home runs and 15 RBI in six games last week while Goldstein batted .545-3-9. Gonzalez is enjoying his finest season of his career, hitting .378-4-18,
About Kentucky: The Wildcats stand at 14-3 under Nick Mingione heading into SEC action. This past Tuesday, they completed the second-largest comeback during Mingione’s eight-year tenure. They rallied from a six-run deficit to beat Murray State 10-6. UK is batting .271 with 12 home runs and a .405 on base percentage. They are 38-for-44 in stolen base attempts with 13 sacrifice bunts. Kentucky has a 3.65 ERA and a .971 fielding percentage.
Last year, the Wildcats enjoyed a special season going 40-21 and advancing to an NCAA Super Regional where they lost to eventual national champion LSU.
Did You Know? Georgia assistant head coach Will Coggin spent the past four seasons at Kentucky on Mingione’s staff.
Series History: Georgia leads the series 144-101-1 dating to 1921. Last year, the Bulldogs claimed a series 2-1 in Athens while the Wildcats took the 2022 series 2-1 in Lexington. Georgia’s last series win in Lexington came in 2019 (2-1).
Pitching Matchups: The Bulldogs likely will start graduate LHP Charlie Goldstein (3-0, 1.29 ERA) on Friday. Game two and three starters are TBA with possible options in sophomore Leighton Finley (2-0, 2.45 ERA), sophomore Jarvis Evans (2-0, 2.00 ERA) and graduate Christian Mracna (2-0, 2.35 ERA). UK’s rotation is TBA.
