Since accepting the position as Georgia’s baseball skipper in June, Scott Stricklin has been a one-man public-relations dynamo. No matter how small or obscure an organization, Stricklin accepted every invitation to speak that his schedule would allow.
So he’s fairly certain he has spoken to every Rotary group in North Georgia; he recently talked at a Little League coaches’ clinic in Oconee County, and last week, he addressed the Young Professional Network of Athens.
“I’ve spoken to just about every group that will take me,” said Stricklin, who took over the Bulldogs’ program after nine seasons at Kent State. “We’ve been all over the state. I think we’ve touched just about every corner. We’re trying to let people know we’re going to be very active and very aggressive and make sure they know everything there is to know about Georgia baseball.”
That’s standard operating procedure for Stricklin, who had to take a bull-by-the-horns approach to promotions while he led Kent State to unprecedented baseball success.
“It’s the way Scott has always approached his work as a head coach,” Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity said. “There were certain things he had to do at Kent to promote his program for a span of nine years. So he brings that same level of enthusiasm and organization and passion to Athens. … I think that same attention to small details in every facet of the program that made him successful at Kent will make him successful here.”
The Stricklin Era was set to begin Friday evening against Georgia Southern, but the opener was postponed after ice and snow left Foley Field unplayable. The Bulldogs instead will host the Eagles in a doubleheader Saturday at noon and play the third game as scheduled at 1 p.m. Sunday.
Sophomore right-hander Sean McLaughlin will start the opener, and left-hander Ryan Lawlor is set to go in Game 2. McLaughlin, who was 5-6 in 13 starts last season, became the first freshman in UGA history to start a season opener last year.
“He’s very good,” Stricklin said of the 5-foot-11, 184-pounder. “He’s really athletic, a Tim Hudson-type guy, not overpowering but can get into low 90s, very competitive, holds runners, can field his position, throws a lot of strikes. He’s an ideal Friday guy for us.”
It has been a surprisingly smooth transition for Stricklin, who inherited 19 regulars from coach David Perno’s last team. Perno was fired after the Bulldogs finished last in the SEC (7-20) and with a 21-32 overall record in his 12th season with the program. Perno, who was 390-335-1, was arguably the most successful coach Georgia has ever had. He led the Bulldogs to three College World Series appearances.
But the program struggled to win consistently, and that’s what Stricklin set his eyes on. To do that, he’s working overtime to drum up regular spectator and sponsor support.
Stricklin received a huge boost when the UGA Athletic Association board of directors last week approved $12 million to renovate and expand Foley Field. In addition to numerous amenities improvements for fans, plans call for an extensive expansion of the Bulldogs’ locker room and training facilities at the baseball complex.
“It’s a huge deal,” Stricklin said. “That creates a lot of momentum for our program and in recruiting when the university gets behind you with a $12 million project. That’s your athletic department and your university supporting your program, and we’re trying to relay that to recruits in the state of Georgia. We want them to know the University of Georgia baseball program is going to be relevant on the national scene for a long time to come.”
Now comes the hard part. Now the Bulldogs have to win. And that won’t come easily, especially in the early portion of the schedule.
Georgia will play without two of its starters the first couple of weeks. Jared Walsh, a junior who plays first base and is a designated hitter and a left-handed pitcher, was suspended for the first nine games for an undisclosed violation of team rules. Freshman Mike Bell was set to start at shortstop before suffering a broken hand in practice recently. He’s expected to be out the first three weeks of the season.
That means both players will be unavailable for the season’s first major challenge, a three-game series at Florida State on Feb. 21-23.
“It’s not ideal,” Stricklin said. “Not the way you want to start the season. But everybody deals with injuries and stuff. We’ll be just fine.”
