Diamond Dogs in Nashville for weekend series vs Vanderbilt

Game 1 in the three-game SEC baseball series between Vanderbilt and Georgia here will now begin at 5:30 p.m. ET Friday.

The Commodores and Bulldogs will meet Saturday at 3 p.m. ET and Sunday at 2 p.m.  ET with all three games airing on SEC Network+ and available on the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network.

Hawkins Field Gates will open at 4 p.m. ET Friday. Tickets purchased for the originally scheduled 7 p.m. ET first pitch remain valid for the new start time.

Georgia (15-10, 1-5 SEC) dropped a 12-2 decision to Georgia Southern Wednesday at Foley Field and that was the lone home contest in a nine-game stretch. The Bulldogs are 2-3 in this span that concludes Tuesday at Kennesaw State. The Commodores (20-5, 6-0 SEC) and ninth-ranked South Carolina (24-2, 6-0 SEC) lead the SEC as both have swept their first two league series. While the Commodores rank 13th in the SEC in batting at .284, they are coming off a monster offensive showing in a road sweep of Mississippi State when they tallied 55 runs, smashed 12 home runs and hit .383. Vanderbilt’s pitching staff has a 3.28 ERA, good for fifth in the league. On Tuesday, they dispatched Lipscomb 11-1 in eight innings.

Series History: Georgia leads the all-time series with Vanderbilt 124-114 in records dating to 1897. The Bulldogs stunned top-ranked Vanderbilt in 2021, winning the series 2-1 in Nashville. Last year, No. 14 Vanderbilt claimed a series over Georgia in Athens 2-1. The teams have split the last 12 meetings.

Bombs Away: This week, Georgia stands ninth nationally with 49 home runs, and it could challenge the school record by the end of the season. The top three totals in Bulldog history are 109 (2009), 102 (1987) and 96 (2008). The most home runs in a season during the Scott Stricklin era has been 81 set last year in 59 games.

Georgia redshirt-freshman OF/1B Charlie Condon (.467-10-40) ranks among the national leaders in several categories. He has hit safely in 24 games and has a team-leading 15 multi-hit games and 11 multi-RBI games. Graduate OF Connor Tate (.446-9-28) ranks among the national leaders with 45 hits and 83 total bases. He had a 22-game hitting streak end last week. Tate’s 36 career home runs rank sixth in school history. He hit a pair in the 24-7 road rout of Auburn last Saturday.

Junior 3B/1B Parks Harber (.340-9-30) has been the most consistent Bulldog in league play, batting an SEC-leading .542 with three home runs and 11 RBI. He had the best series against USC, hitting .556 (5-for-9) with a double, two home runs and four RBI and then led the team against Auburn when he batted .533 (8-for-15) with three doubles, a home run and seven RBI. Harber had a career-best 12-game hitting streak end this past Wednesday.

On The Mound: The Bulldogs have a 6.06 ERA with 263 strikeouts and 126 walks. Georgia’s SEC rotation for the VU series will feature junior LHP Jaden Woods (3-1, 3.90 ERA) and junior LHP Liam Sullivan (3-1, 2.57 ERA) with Sunday’s starter to be announced. The Commodores will go with all left-handed rotation in sophomore Carter Holton (3-0, 2.59 ERA), junior Hunter Owen (3-0, 2.78 ERA) and Devin Futrell (4-1, 3.55 ERA).

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