Diamond Dogs travel to LSU

The Georgia Bulldogs (29-12, 11-7 SEC) are back on the road this week to face No. 20 LSU (27-13, 10-8 SEC) starting Friday in Baton Rouge.  Game times are 7:30 pm ET Friday (SECN+), 3 pm ET (SECN+) on Saturday and Sunday at 2 pm ET (SECN+). The entire series will be available on the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network.

The Bulldogs, under the direction of Ike Cousins head baseball coach Scott Stricklin, are ranked as high as No. 11 this week. They are 7-6 on the road including winning an SEC series at Alabama and South Carolina while dropping one at Kentucky. LSU is 21-5 at home, losing a series to Texas A&M and Auburn while sweeping Missouri. This will be LSU’s second straight SEC home series and the second consecutive road series for the Bulldogs.  The Bulldogs are batting .289 with 45 home runs, a 5.29 ERA and a .976 fielding percentage. The Tigers are hitting .292 with 67 home runs, a 3.55 ERA and a .960 fielding percentage.

LSU leads the all-time series 68-24-2. The teams last met at the 2021 SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala., and the Bulldogs eliminated the Tigers 4-1. The last SEC series with the Tigers came in Athens in 2019 with the Bulldogs taking the series two games to one. Georgia’s last visit to Baton Rouge was in 2017 and resulted in a Tiger sweep. Georgia’s last series win in Baton Rouge came during the 2008 SEC Championship season, winning two and tying one. The 2008 Bulldogs went on to reach the College World Series Finals.

Due to injuries, Georgia has used six different SEC starting rotations and six different pitchers have started a league game. The LSU series will mark the first time in league play that the Bulldogs employ the same rotation two weeks in a row. Junior RHP Nolan Crisp (1-1, 3.77 ERA) has solidified the rotation, filling in for ace Jonathan Cannon and No. 2 starter Liam Sullivan after they missed multiple SEC starts earlier this year. In SEC action, Crisp is 1-1 with a 2.74 ERA in seven appearances including four starts. He provided a career-high 5.2 scoreless innings with five strikeouts in a 4-2 win over Alabama last Friday in Tuscaloosa. He is slated to start Friday against LSU. Cannon (7-1, 1.55 ERA), a preseason All-America selection and on the Golden Spikes Midseason Award watch list, will go on Saturday. He missed two SEC starts with a muscle strain (non-throwing injury) and then returned for the UA series on a pitch count, tossing five perfect frames Saturday in a 3-0 win. Sullivan (3-2, 5.27 ERA) will take his turn on Sunday. In the road series win over Alabama, the trio combined to pitch 13.2 scoreless innings before allowing a run in the series on Sunday.  Senior RHP Jack Gowen (1-0, 1.57 ERA) ranks second in the SEC with eight saves including six of those in league play. Overall, the Bulldogs are 12-for-12 in save chances this season.

Georgia graduate CF Ben Anderson (.298-7-26) is a co-leader in the SEC with four triples. He has three leadoff home runs this year, the first in the season opener (Albany), then off Hunter Barco (Florida) in game one and this past Tuesday against Ga. State. Earlier this year, he had a 31-game on base streak. Graduate LF Connor Tate (.338-5-35) leads the team in batting. He has a team-best 18 multi-hit games. Sophomore 3B Parks Harber (.288-7-39) makes his hits count, tallying 40 hits to go with 39 RBI this season. In the Saturday shutout over Alabama, he went 3-for-4 including a three-run double to account for all the scoring. He hit his seventh homer this past Tuesday, going 2-for-5, 2 RBI. Graduate shortstop Cole Tate (.331-2-16) will miss the LSU series as he recovers from a stress fracture in his leg. Tate has been out the past nine games with senior Josh McAllister (.295-3-24) filling in nicely defensively.

Probable Pitching Matchups: UGA vs. LSU G42      #11 Nolan Crisp (0-1, 4.62, RHP, RJr.)    vs. Ma’Khail Hillard (4-0, 3.64, RHP, Sr.)

G43      #12 Jonathan Cannon (6-1, 1.71, RHP, Jr.)            vs. Blake Money (2-3, 4.53, RHP, So.)

G44      #14 Liam Sullivan (3-1, 5.40, LHP, So.)   vs. TBA

LiveStats Link: https://georgiadogs.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary

Georgia Baseball Radio Links/TV Stream

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Friday Pregame Radio Show at 7:10 pm ET: https://georgiadogs.com/watch/?Live=4172&type=Live

Saturday Pregame Radio Show at 2:40 pm ET: https://georgiadogs.com/watch/?Live=4173&type=Live

Sunday Pregame Radio Show at 1:40 pm ET: https://georgiadogs.com/watch/?Live=4174&type=Live

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