ATHENS — The latest chapter in the storied rivalry known as Clean Old-Fashioned Hate gets written this weekend.
Next up is baseball. Georgia and Georgia Tech will play three games on three diamonds, beginning at 6 p.m. Friday on Foley Field in Athens. On Saturday, they’ll meet in Atlanta at Russ Chandler Stadium (2 p.m.) and at 3 p.m. Sunday they’ll go head-to-head at Coolray Field in Lawrenceville for the annual Spring Baseball Classic that benefits Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
Tickets remain on sale for the last one. The on-campus competitions are sold out.
As always, there’s a lot on the line. Pride and bragging rights mostly.
“It’s a series that our players look forward to, and I know our fans look forward to,” Georgia coach Scott Stricklin said. “It’s kind of an SEC primer for us, and ACC primer for them. But I think both teams will tell you this is the biggest series of the year just because of the in-state rivalry. There’s a lot of emotions both ways.”
Georgia (6-2) is particularly motivated after losing two of three last season, including an 11-7 loss in Athens. The 12-3 win at Coolray Field on March 6 of last year snapped a four-game losing streak to Tech for the Bulldogs.
Meanwhile, the Yellow Jackets arrive in Athens riding high. With its 5-4 win over Kennesaw State on Wednesday afternoon on the Flats, Tech improved to 9-0. That’s its best start to a season since 2016.
Conversely, the Bulldogs have struggled at times this season. They lost the first game of the season to Jacksonville State on Feb. 17 and lost to Princeton 12-11 on Sunday. In between were a lot of runs scored but some suspect pitching.
Georgia will try to get a handle on that Friday when Jaden Woods takes the mound. A junior left-hander, Woods (1-0, 5.40 ERA) rebounded from a shaky outing in the opener with an 11-strikeout win over Princeton on Friday. Tech will counter with right-hander Dawson Brown (1-0, 8.31).
Moving into the Bulldogs’ No. 1 starter role from the bullpen, Woods struggled to get his breaking pitch over for strikes in the first game of the season. That seemed to get resolved before his next appearance.
“I think it was just kind of the jitters and I guess being out there for the first time,” Woods said.
Three weeks in, Woods is getting the ball in arguably the biggest game of the year.
“I guess it’s a big game, with the rivalry and all that,” Woods said with a grin. “But I feel like as far as a psyche and all that, you’ve got to treat it just like it’s any other game and go out there and compete. It’s still baseball.”
Both teams come in with plenty of offensive firepower. Led by Charlie Condon (.556) and Connor Tate (.452), the Bulldogs have hit 17 home runs and are averaging 10 runs per game. Meanwhile, Tech has two players hitting over .500 in Jackson Finley (.545) and Jack Rubenstein (.500) and is averaging 11.6 runs per game.
“They’re scoring a lot of runs, and if you look at the numbers, both teams are pretty similar,” Stricklin said. “Both teams are pretty offensive-minded, and both pitching staffs have had some shining moments and some room for improvement. So I think it’s a good matchup and a pretty even matchup, and we’re excited to get after it.”
As for the never-ending rivalry that is Tech-Georgia, the Bulldogs were the latest to draw blood, beating the Jackets in softball 8-0 last week in Atlanta. Before that, Georgia won in men’s and women’s tennis, Tech won in men’s basketball, Georgia won in women’s basketball, the Jackets won the men’s hoops game in Atlanta in December and the Bulldogs won in football 37-14 in Athens in November.
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