ATHENS, Ga. — Coming off a thrilling 10-9 win over Kennesaw State on Tuesday, the Georgia baseball team returns to Southeastern Conference play against No. 18 Tennessee on Friday.
Game 1 first pitch at Foley Field is slated for 6:02 p.m. on Friday. Saturday's action will begin at 2 p.m., with Sunday's first pitch at 1 p.m.
The Bulldogs (25-20, 8-13 SEC) face a red-hot Volunteer squad (31-14, 11-10 SEC) that has won eight straight, including back-to-back SEC sweeps of Vanderbilt and Miss. State. UT is No. 16 in the NCAA RPI, while the Bulldogs are No. 23. The Vols have been tough at home (29-4). However, they are just 1-9 in true road games (1-8 in SEC) and 2-10 on the road. UT's SEC road trips took them to frigid Missouri, where they were swept, dropped two of three at No. 1 LSU, and then swept by No. 4 Arkansas.
In SEC play, the Bulldogs are 5-4 at home starting when No. 14 USC swept Georgia in March. Then, the Bulldogs posted a series win over No. 10 Kentucky on Easter and, most recently, a sweep of No. 4 Arkansas in late April. After the USC sweep, Georgia played three of its next four series on the road, including at No. 4 Vanderbilt and No. 2 Florida. Georgia started 1-9 in SEC action before making progress on "The Road to Hoover," the site of the 2023 SEC Tournament. Georgia is 16-10 at Foley Field this year.
Series History: UT leads the all-time series with Georgia 126-120 in records dating to 1909. The Bulldogs' last series win came in 2018 at Foley Field (2-1). The Vols have claimed the past three series, winning 2-1 in '19, '21 and '22. The last sweep by either team came by Georgia in 2015 in Knoxville.
On The Mound: Freshman RHP Kolten Smith (2-1, 4.91) and redshirt junior LHP Charlie Goldstein (3-1, 4.50) will start the first two games for Georgia while it is TBA for Sunday. The Bulldogs have a 6.27 ERA with 413 strikeouts and 225 walks. Opponents are batting .265 versus Georgia.
The Vols feature one of the top pitching staffs in the country as they sport a 3.38 ERA (2nd nationally) with a national-leading 508 strikeouts and just 119 walks. Opponents are hitting .212 against the Vols. The UT rotation will be junior RHP Andrew Lindsey (0-2, 3.11) on Friday, followed by junior RHP Chase Dollander (5-4, 4.24) on Saturday and sophomore RHP Drew Beam (6-2, 3.13) on Sunday.
At The Plate: Georgia is batting .286 with 80 home runs, a .389 OB%, and is 24-for-28 in stolen base attempts. Redshirt freshman 1B/OF Charlie Condon is chasing the team's triple crown, batting .404-19-57. Also, Condon ranks in the top five in the SEC in most offensive categories. Graduate Connor Tate ranks second on the club, batting at .379-13-46, while junior Parks Harber checks in at .285-15-48. Condon and Tate are the only two Bulldogs to start all 45 games this year.
UT is batting .293 with 95 home runs, a .410 OB%, and is 46-for-56 in stolen base attempts. The Vols' leading hitter is sophomore Jared Dickey (.331-10-37), while sophomore Blake Burke is next at .323-15-38. Senior Zane Denton has a team-high 41 RBI go, with a .288 average and 10 home runs.
