ATHENS — Baseball America released its preseason top 25 Monday, and the Georgia Bulldogs are ranked seventh and Georgia Tech 21st nationally.
Baseball America released its preseason top 25 Monday, and the Georgia Bulldogs are ranked seventh nationally.
Baseball America is the fourth publication to include the Bulldogs in its preseason top 10 for 2020. Georgia has been ranked as high as No. 5 during the preseason, which marks its best since 2009 when it was No. 4. The Bulldogs are in their seventh year under Ike Cousins head baseball coach Scott Stricklin. Georgia resumes practice Friday with Opening Day set for Feb. 14 at Foley Field.
Meanwhile, Georgia Tech baseball received its second preseason top-25 ranking on Monday coing at No. 21 in the country.
The Bulldogs have sold out their season tickets for the 2020 season. However, single game tickets will go on sale this Tuesday, Jan. 21 at 9 a.m. Fans can call (706) 542-1231 to purchase tickets or go online at www.georgiadogs.com/tickets. Single game reserved seats are $8 while general admission tickets including group tickets (10+ tickets) are $5 each.
In 2020, Georgia welcomes back 20 lettermen and 18 newcomers. Seven starting position players return including two 2019 draft picks in Gold Glove Award-winning shortstop Cam Shepherd and infielder/outfielder Riley King. On the mound, Georgia will have a pair of projected first round draft prospects in right-handers Emerson Hancock and Cole Wilcox. Also, junior left-hander C.J. Smith, who was a key member of the starting rotation that helped win series over nationally ranked Vanderbilt and LSU in 2019, is back. Last year, Georgia went 46-17 and set a school record with a .980 Fielding Percentage, and its 3.24 Earned Run Average was the second best in school history.
The ACC Coastal Division champion Yellow Jackets were also ranked No. 19 by D1Baseball last week. The Jackets return five of eight position starters from last season to go along with the addition of 19 freshmen from the No. 4 recruiting class in the nation.
On the mound, Tech returns redshirt senior RHP Jonathan Hughes and sophomores RHP Cort Roedig and LHP Luke Bartnicki, while also seeing the return of RHP Andy Archer after missing last year due to injury. Tech will also feature a host of veterans in the field, including juniors Michael Guldberg, Colin Hall, Baron Radcliff and Luke Waddell, as well as seniors Austin Wilhite and Jackson Webb. Guldberg and Radcliff were both named all-ACC last season.
Those six Jackets combined to hit .304 on the ACC’s best offensive unit, accounting for a whopping 371 hits and 202 RBI.
Baseball America chose Vanderbilt as the preseason No. 1 ranked team after going 59-12 and winning the national championship last year. Seven teams from the Southeastern Conference are in the 2020 Baseball America preseason Top 25. Along with the Commodores, there is Florida (4), Georgia (7), Mississippi Sate (9), Arkansas (11), Auburn (13) and LSU (14). The staff of Baseball America determines the Top 25 rankings.
