It’s a top-5 showdown in the Lone Star State for Georgia baseball, which will try to leave Texas with a tighter grip on the top of the SEC.
The No. 3-ranked Bulldogs (29-2) will ride into Austin on their best start through 31 games in program history. UGA is simply red-hot, sitting atop the SEC standings at 8-1 and leading the country with 84 home runs.
Georgia has also won nine straight, averaging 12.8 runs per game during the stretch.
The No. 5-ranked Longhorns’ pitching staff will try to simmer Georgia’s sizzling offense, much like they’ve done to their first three SEC opponents. The Longhorns (23-4, 8-1) boast the SEC’s top team ERA in conference play (3.29).
Texas has also allowed the least home runs of any team in the SEC this season (14).
The Bulldogs have dismantled highly-touted pitching staffs already this year. Kentucky had the second-highest team ERA in the country before Georgia scored 36 runs in an SEC-opening series win over the Wildcats.
Then UGA traveled to Florida, a team that coach Wes Johnson said had the deepest pitching staff of anyone his team would face this season. The Bulldogs proceeded to score 40 more before leaving Gainesville.
But after three weeks of SEC play, Kentucky and Florida have sunk into the lower tiers of the SEC standings, leaving questions about how much of a challenge they truly posed to Georgia.
It would be much more difficult to discredit Texas’ pitching. The Longhorns have dominated through three weeks of conference play, including a series win over baseball blue blood LSU.
It certainly appears to be the truest test of the strength and versatility of Georgia’s offense yet this season, especially if home runs are hard to come by early.
The Bulldogs have proven they can score in a variety of ways. They will attack the SEC’s best with a deeper skillset than the record-setting 2024 offense did last season.
Georgia also has a good chance to outpace its 2024 version in SEC wins. A series win over the Longhorns would be a great start to the toughest two-week stretch on UGA’s schedule.
The Bulldogs will host No. 2 Arkansas at Foley Field next weekend. Three or four conference wins over the next two weeks would finish a blazing first half of Georgia’s SEC schedule.
It would also likely be enough to keep them near the top of the SEC standings, poised for a late-season run at the SEC regular season title.
Johnson and the Bulldogs are focused solely on Friday night, game one starting at 7:30 p.m. (streamed on SEC Network+). Rehabbing SEC veteran Charlie Goldstein will start on the mound, per usual, while Texas will counter with left-hander Jared Spencer.
Spencer allowed two earned runs through his first four starts before SEC play began. He has struggled more since, posting a 7.27 ERA in three SEC starts. Goldstein has also struggled at times while working back from elbow surgery, but he is coming off a scoreless three-inning start against Auburn last Friday.
Johnson plans to start Brian Curley for the third straight Saturday. Curley followed a scoreless five-run outing against Florida with another strong start against Auburn that lasted too long.
The reliever-turned-starter had allowed one run through five innings, prompting Johnson to pitch him for a sixth. Curley appeared to run out of gas, though, giving up three runs before leaving the game in a win.
Texas’ Luke Harrison will start on Saturday. Harrison leads Texas with a 2.12 season ERA, and his 3.00 ERA through three SEC starts might be even more impressive.
Johnson plans to start Leighton Finley on Sunday. Texas has not announced a starter, but Ruger Riojas has made a name for himself in starts in the Longhorns’ last two series.
It’s the highest-ranked matchup between SEC teams so far this season. It’s a matter of pride for Georgia fans who would love to see baseball continue the trend of beating Texas in Austin, set by football and basketball earlier this year.
It’s Georgia’s best chance so far to send a message to the country in an SEC showdown, and they want to be Texas’ huckleberry.
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