ATHENS – Two key Georgia players are listed as “day-to-day” heading into Tuesday night’s critical baseball matchup at Georgia Tech.
Connor Tate, Georgia’s leading hitter, and No. 3 RBI man Riley King were both sidelined for Sunday’s game against No. 7 Florida in Gainesville. Tate has been battling an Achilles tendon issue while King sat out with a sore knee.
“They both participated in our light practice today, a little bit,” Georgia coach Scott Stricklin said Monday. “They were partial participants, just moving around a little. They’re trying to play, both want to play and obviously I want to play them. But we’ve just got to make sure they can go. So they’re both game-time decisions.”
Stricklin said both players would dress out and give batting practice a shot before the 6:02 p.m. game (ACC Network Extra).
Tate usually is Georgia’s designated hitter. He leads the Bulldogs (29-20, 12-15 SEC) with a .346 batting average along with 10 home runs and 33 RBI. King (.265-6-30) is a starting outfielder.
Several other players stepped up in their absence in the 6-1 win over Florida Sunday, which kept the Gators from getting a sweep. Connor’s twin brother Cole responded by going 3-for-5 at the plate Sunday and Corey Collins moved into the DH role and was 2-for-4. Meanwhile, Garrett Blaylock got the Bulldogs off to a fast start with a three-run home run in the first inning and Chaney Rogers also homered as Georgia’s lineup picked up the slack.
That gave starting pitcher Jonathan Cannon (3-2) all the cushion he’d need. The sophomore right-hander scattered six hits and struck out four over 5.2 innings to get the victory. Five pitchers combined to give the Bulldogs 3.1 innings of scoreless relief, including closer Ben Harris with two strikeouts and clean frame in the ninth inning.
“We really needed that win,” Stricklin said. “I’ll be honest with you, our last two weekends at (No. 1) Arkansas and at Florida, we’ve played some of our best baseball and we lost both series. But these kids have played their tails off at some tough venues on the road against Top 10 teams and we’ve been in position to win all but one of the games.”
Add Georgia Tech to the list of those challenging road games for the Bulldogs. The Yellow Jackets (25-20, 19-14 ACC) defeated Georgia 7-5 on April 27 in Athens. Georgia Tech is ranked No. 44 in the NCAA’s latest RPI rankings, while the Bulldogs are 38.
Georgia wraps up the regular season at home with a three-game series against Ole Miss. The No. 12-ranked Rebels (36-15, 16-11 SEC) will be the third SEC team the Bulldogs have played this season that has help the nation’s No. 1 ranking at some point.
Meanwhile, Georgia had to alter its SEC rotation this past weekend with the loss of Ryan Webb to an elbow injury. That means another “staff pitching” night against the Yellow Jackets. The Bulldogs will start senior Charlie Goldstein and will throw as many as six or seven pitchers if needed. Closer Ben Harris should be available for one inning if needed.
If Georgia hopes to extend its NCAA Tournament streak to three consecutive seasons, it’s paramount that it “wins the week” and pulls at least three victories out of these next four games.
“Guys are going to have to step up and score some runs and just find a way to win,” Stricklin said. “Tech is in a similar situation. This time of year in midweek games, you’re just trying to find a way to get nine innings out of your staff and find a way to get some outs.”
