ATHENS — The University of Georgia baseball team will battle the University of Florida in a fall exhibition game in Jacksonville on Friday, Oct. 29, it was announced Thursday.
The 2021 exhibition contest will be played at 121 Financial Ballpark in Jacksonville at 6:30 p.m. ET on Oct. 29. Tickets will be $15 and go on sale online via Ticketmaster this Friday, Sept. 10 at 10 a.m. ET. https://www.ticketmaster.com
Thursday’s joint announcement was made by the schools in partnership with the City of Jacksonville, ASM-Global Jacksonville and 121 Financial Ballpark. The annual Georgia-Florida football game will be on Saturday, Oct. 30 at TIAA Bank Field and televised by CBS Sports at 3:30 p.m. Additional information and details about activities taking place in Jacksonville during the Georgia-Florida weekend will be announced in the coming weeks.
The Georgia and Florida baseball teams squared off in an exhibition in November of 2019 at 121 Financial Ballpark (formerly Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville). It serves as home to the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, currently the Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. Along with the exhibition, fans were treated to a post-game concert by Brett Young and special guests and then a fireworks show.
UF won the exhibition 5-3 in front of a crowd of 8,640. When the teams were set to meet again to open Southeastern Conference play in March of 2020 in Gainesville, they were ranked No. 1 and No. 2. However, the series was never played due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the rest of the 2020 season was canceled. Last year, Georgia posted a 31-25 mark while the Gators finished 38-22, including winning a home series over the Bulldogs.
The agreement for the baseball exhibition extends beyond this year, as the programs will face off on the eve of the annual Georgia-Florida football game through 2023 or possibly to 2025 should the schools exercise a football game agreement through the latter year.
The home team for the baseball exhibition will rotate each year, beginning with Florida as the home team in 2021. With the announcement, the Bulldog baseball program joins the Georgia football program as part of the annual festivities between UGA and UF in Jacksonville. The agreement is notwithstanding any NCAA or SEC actions resulting in the elimination of fall baseball games or scrimmages.
Georgia will begin fall baseball practice on Sept. 15. Georgia’s first fall exhibition baseball game will be Tuesday, Sept. 28 at Foley Field in Athens against Team Ontario at 6 p.m. Georgia will play host to Western Carolina on Oct. 10 at 4 p.m. The Florida exhibition will conclude fall workouts for the Bulldogs.
