Next up for Georgia baseball: a swing through Music City.
The Bulldogs will continue their road trip with a three-game series at No. 19 Vanderbilt — their fifth, sixth and seventh of 11-straight games against ranked opponents — that begins on Thursday at 7 p.m.
The home team earned a three-game sweep in each of the last two meetings between the Bulldogs and Commodores, a trend Georgia will aim to break.
Vanderbilt is 27-10 with a .268 batting average that ranks last in the SEC, but there is still a reason former Bulldog Corey Collins dubbed it the “Yankees of college baseball” in 2024.
“Their pitching is really, really good,” head coach Wes Johnson said on Wednesday. “You look at their top seven guys, and they’re going to be real similar to what we’ve seen the last few weekends between Texas and Arkansas.”
Texas and Arkansas both beat Georgia with sliders, especially from left-handers. If the Bulldogs want to get to Vanderbilt’s pitching staff that ranks sixth in the SEC with a 3.69 ERA, has opponents batting .212 against it and has a strikeout-to-walk ratio of almost three, they will need to limit their chase percentage.
Georgia has recently had a tendency to chase pitches with 81 strikeouts in its last six games against SEC opponents.
“When you look at when Vanderbilt has given up a few runs, teams haven’t chased as much,” Johnson said. “Which, obviously, forces the pitcher into more of that hitter’s count, and now they’re a little susceptible to making a mistake, and we’re going to have to get off our good swings during that time.”
Georgia will keep its starting rotation from its series-win over former No. 1 Arkansas. The Bulldogs will start Brian Curley on Thursday, Kolten Smith on Friday and Leighton Finley on Saturday.
Each of the junior right-handers threw at least five innings against the Razorbacks, which was the first time all three starters did so in a series this season.
“That’s a sign that things are starting to get where you need them to be on the mound,” Johnson said after the Arkansas series.
Vanderbilt will counter with junior left-hander JD Thompson, junior right-hander Cody Bowker and sophomore right-hander Connor Fennell. The Commodores also have a talented bullpen with seven pitchers under a 3.00 ERA, all of which having at least nine appearances.
“They can really pitch,” Johnson said on Tuesday after Georgia’s victory over Georgia Tech. “They pound the strike zone. They’ve got probably seven guys that are really good with velocity movement. They’ve got a couple left-handers in there that can really match up. It’s going to be a good test for us.”
Game information
Streaming
Thursday: 7 p.m. on SEC Network +
Friday: 7 p.m. on SEC Network +
Saturday: 3 p.m. on SEC Network +
Starting rotations
Thursday: Brian Curley (2-0, 3.48 ERA) vs. junior left-hander JD Thompson (2-3, 4.44 ERA)
Friday: Kolten Smith (3-1, 4.18 ERA) vs. junior right-hander Cody Bowker (2-2, 3.32 ERA)
Saturday: Leighton Finley (2-0, 5.66 ERA) vs. sophomore right-hander Connor Fennell (3-0, 2.95 ERA)
Series history
Vanderbilt swept Georgia in Nashville in 2023, but the Bulldogs returned the favor in 2024 with a three-game sweep in Athens. Georgia holds a 127-117 edge in the series that began in 1897.
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