ATHENS — The 23rd-ranked Georgia Bulldogs play host to No. 16 Florida starting Thursday in an SEC series.
First pitch will be at 8 pm (ESPN2) and available on the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network. The series continues Friday at 6 pm (SECN+) and concludes Saturday with first pitch at 2 pm (SECN+). Saturday’s game will be the annual Baseball Lettermen’s Day recognition too.
This past Tuesday, Georgia (19-6, 3-3 SEC) defeated Ga. Southern 7-2 in Athens to claim the season series while Florida (18-7, 3-3 SEC) beat No. 5 FSU 6-3 in Jacksonville. Georgia dropped an SEC road series 2-1 at Kentucky this past weekend while the Gators lost a home series to No. 14 LSU 2-1. Georgia is batting .289 with 25 home runs while posting a 4.75 ERA and .974 fielding percentage. The Gators are batting .295 with 49 home runs and a 3.79 ERA and .980 fielding percentage.
The Florida series began in 1931, and the Gators hold a 189-97-2 advantage. The teams met in Jacksonville last November for a fall exhibition the night before the Georgia-Florida football game. Georgia won the exhibition 8-5 (and the football game 34-7). UF won the baseball series last year two games to one in Gainesville while the Bulldogs swept the Gators at Foley Field in 2019. In 2020, it was slated to be a No. 1 versus No. 2 matchup to open the SEC season. The Bulldogs were on their way to Gainesville when they had to turn the bus around and return home due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The series and ultimately the rest of the college baseball season was canceled.
This series will feature two of the nation’s elite pitchers and premium 2022 MLB Draft prospects in Georgia junior right-hander Jonathan Cannon (5-1, 1.96 ERA, 41.1 IP, 43K, 1BB {intentional}) and Florida sophomore left-hander Hunter Barco (5-1, 1.41 ERA, 38. 1 IP, 52K, 5BB). The Bulldogs will keep Cannon in his normal Friday night spot in the SEC rotation. Redshirt sophomore Garrett Brown (0-0, 6.91 ERA) will get the Thursday night start for game one of the series. Georgia has not announced a starter for game three. Three of Georgia’s top starting options are sidelined. Junior RHP Dylan Ross and redshirt sophomore RHP Will Childers are now out for the season. Sophomore LHP Liam Sullivan is slated to return next week for the South Carolina series. UF has not announced its rotation for the series.
Georgia graduate CF Ben Anderson (.369-4-17, .518 OB%) has reached base safely in a team-high 23 consecutive games. He kept the streak alive Tuesday with a walk. Anderson led all SEC hitters this past week with a .529 average (9-for-17). Sophomore C/DH Corey Collins (.309-7-22, .420 OB%) saw his on base streak end this past Sunday at 21 games. On Tuesday, he began a new streak by going 1-for-2 with an HBP. Graduate SS Cole Tate (.368-1-11) missed the Kentucky series this past weekend due to a hip injury. He returned to action this past Tuesday, going 0-for-3 with an RBI. Entering the UK series, he was the team’s leading hitter and had started 24 games. Redshirt senior Josh McAllister (.296-3-19) started at shortstop versus UK. He has made starts at 2B-3B-SS and has played OF too. At least once every series, McAllister will make a highlight play. He has made SportsCenter Top Plays in his career.
Probable Pitching Matchups: UGA vs. UF
Garrett Brown (0-0, 6.40, RHP, RSo.) vs. TBA
Jonathan Cannon (5-1, 1.96, RHP, Jr.) vs. TBA
TBA vs. TBA
Georgia Baseball Radio/TV Streaming Links
Georgia Bulldog Sports Network (Announcers: David Johnston & Jeff Dantzler)
Free audio streaming of all Georgia Bulldogs games can be heard using the Gameday LIVE app.
