ATHENS, Ga. — Fourth-ranked Georgia continues Southeastern Conference action Friday at No. 13 Florida on Friday.
The first pitch of the three-game series is at 6:30 p.m.
Game two of the series will begin at noon and be televised on the SEC Network, and the series concludes Sunday with first pitch at 1 p.m. The entire series will be available on the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network.
The Bulldogs (21-2, 2-1 SEC) opened league play with a series win over No. 23 Kentucky while top-ranked Tennessee swept the Gators (18-5, 0-3) in Knoxville. The Gators bounced back with a pair of midweek victories, while the Bulldogs did not play after having 23 games in the first 30 days of the season.
The Bulldogs are a consensus top-10 squad in year two of the Wes Johnson era. Georgia is 16-1 at home, 3-1 on the road, and 2-0 at neutral sites this season. In the series history with UF, the Gators lead 193-102-2 dating to 1931. Last year in Athens, UF won the series 2-1. Georgia took game one 9-4, and then UF posted a 7-4 win in 10 innings and won a 19-11 slugfest. The Gators made their 14th trip to the College World Series while the Bulldogs advanced to an NCAA Super Regional for the first time since 2008.
The Bulldogs are batting .317 with an NCAA-leading 57 home runs, .604 SLG% (3rd-NCAA), a .469 OB% (2nd-NCAA), have drawn 159 walks (4th-NCAA), and have been hit 65 times (1st-NCAA) plus are 32-for-36 in SB. The team's leading hitters are roommates Ryland Zaborowski (.444-12-40) and Robbie Burnett (.414-11-36, 22 BB, 16 HBP, 11 SB). Burnett and Tre Phelps (.318-5-23) have reached base safely in all 23 games this year. Burnett earned SEC Player of the Week honors after a monster series against #23 UK (.667 BA, 8R, 2HR, 9 RBI).
Earlier this month, Zaborowski was named the NCBWA Dick Howser Trophy National Hitter of the Week and SEC Co-Player of the Week by the league office. In a four-game stretch, he batted .438 with one double, six home runs and 18 RBI. In the Columbia series, he had back-to-back games with two home runs and seven RBI. Currently, Zaborowski and Burnett rank among the national leaders in Home Runs, Slugging Percentage and RBI.
Georgia has scored at least six runs in 21 of 23 games this year and 10+ runs in 10 games, going 10-0 in those contests. UF is batting .326 with a .544 SLG% and a .436 OB%. The Gators have drawn 104 BBs and 49 HBPs, and 38-for-45 in SB. The Gators' leading hitters are Colby Shelton (.407-2-20), Justin Nadeau (.375-1-10), and Brody Donay (.373-8-20), and while Bobby Boser has 26 RBI to go with a .291 average and seven home runs.
The Bulldogs have posted a 4.95 ERA with 235 strikeouts and 109 walks. Opponents are batting .231 against Georgia. The Bulldogs have allowed 72 runs in the first three innings but just 44 over the final six frames. Georgia has fallen behind in the first inning ten times this season and then went on to win eight of those games. Georgia has trailed in 13 of its games this season and has rallied to win 10 of those contests. Florida has a 3.98 ERA with 257 strikeouts and 70 walks this season. Opponents are batting .219 against the Gators.
UGA-UF Probable Rotation
Fri.: Charlie Goldstein (0-0, 7.36 ERA), Gr., LHP vs. Aidan King (3-1, 0.81 ERA), Fr., RHP
Sat.: Brian Curley (1-0, 3.29 ERA), Jr., RHP vs. TBA
Sun.: TBA vs. Jake Clemente (1-0, 4.24 ERA), RSo., RHP
Goldstein will be making his 29th career start on Friday. Curley will be making the third start of his career and first as a Bulldog. He made starts in his final two appearances of the 2023 season when he was a freshman at VCU against Richmond and Rhode Island. Curley made 19 relief appearances for the Rams last year, going 6-0 with a 2.87 ERA and three saves. This year, Curley has seven relief outings for the Bulldogs.
