University of Georgia Athletics
Dawgs Face Challenging Closing Stretch
April 19, 2018 | Baseball, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
The Georgia baseball team did Tuesday night at Foley Field what the Bulldogs have done all season on Tuesdays: they won.
The need to "dominate Tuesday" is something Ike Cousins baseball coach Scott Stricklin and his staff have stressed to the Bulldogs since before the season began. In fact, they gave a presentation to the team before the season on the ratings percentage index (RPI) and just how important winning midweek games is to a team's postseason chances.
"I still wouldn't be able to tell you what (the RPI) is, as I'm sure most people can attest to," Will Proctor said Tuesday after allowing a run in 4.0 innings on the mound against Clemson, "but (the meeting) was just about how important those games are."
Georgia's 6-1 win over the Tigers made the Bulldogs 9-0 in Tuesday midweek games this season. The Dogs, ranked No. 19 in this week's coaches' poll, beat the No. 15-ranked Tigers 6-3 last Tuesday, in North Augusta, S.C., so that's two decisive victories in taking the season series for the first time since 2015.
"Tuesdays and Wednesdays can be offensive days; a lot of times pitching staffs are stretched a little bit (from the weekend before), bullpens are stretched a little bit and sometimes you'll see some bigger scores on Tuesday," Stricklin said. "Fortunately for us, that hasn't been the case. Our pitching staff has been really good on Tuesday. That's something Coach (Sean) Kenny stressed to the staff on Day One, is we need to dominate Tuesday."
Proctor gave up a home run to the leadoff batter — on an 0-2 pitch, no less — on Tuesday, in his first career start. He was rock solid the rest of the way, as were Tony Locey (3.0 hitless innings), Kevin Smith and particularly Zac Kristofak, who struck out the four batters he faced at the end.
Tuesday's win made it 10 non-conference wins in a row for the Bulldogs (26-11, 9-6 SEC). The last time Georgia lost a non-conference game was at Charleston Southern on March 5, during that vexing Charleston, S.C., trip in which the Bulldogs lost three straight to the College of Charleston, once to Charleston Southern and then beat The Citadel.
After that bumpy road trip, Georgia won its next five before losing in 13 innings at Alabama, and followed that with nine wins in a row. The Bulldogs have split their past 10 games, with a loss to Texas A&M and two losses each to Vanderbilt and Kentucky.
"To be able to not only put away the smaller schools but the big schools like Clemson, that's giant," Proctor said, "and it completely boosts our confidence going into weekends."
Georgia is in Oxford, Miss., this weekend for a series against No. 7 Ole Miss (30-8, 8-7 SEC). The teams are separated by 12 spots in the coaches' poll, but they're much tighter in the RPI rankings on NCAA.com, where both are in the top 10.
Updated through Wednesday night's games, Georgia is No. 8 in the RPI, which, put simply, factors in wins and losses and strength of schedule. Ole Miss ranks No. 5 — Georgia and Ole Miss are two of four SEC teams in the top 10 and seven in the top 15.
As the Bulldogs head down to the homestretch of their regular season, which has already surpassed 2017 in total wins, they will regularly be facing off against very good competition.Â
At 9-6 in SEC play, Georgia is tied with Vanderbilt for second in the East, behind Florida. The Gators (32-7, 12-3 SEC), who sit atop the human rankings and the RPI, host the Bulldogs next month, but there are many obstacles to be overcome before then.
Stricklin said after Tuesday's win that Ole Miss will be the best team Georgia has faced to this point. As a team the Rebels are batting .306 and their ERA is a very solid 3.40.
Ahead of the Bulldogs and Rebels in the RPI is Arkansas, at No. 4. The Razorbacks presently have the best record in the SEC West, 10-5, and are 28-10 overall. Georgia hosts the Hogs next month, in the final series of the regular season.
After visiting Ole Miss, Georgia has a home series against Tennessee (outside the RPI top 75) and a road trip to Missouri (RPI: 36). In addition, there are two games against Georgia Tech (RPI: 40) in Atlanta, at Tech's stadium next Tuesday and at SunTrust Park a week later.
So what does all that mean? It means that the Bulldogs have had a really good season, and it means that the final month is going to be the most challenging stretch they will face. And games like they've played the past two Tuesdays, beating quality non-competition, should help the Dogs be ready for anything.
"I feel like it doesn't matter who we play," Sasser said, "it's a big game."
And the more you win, the bigger they get.
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
