Start Your Wednesday Morning With Bulldog Baseball

ATHENS------Eighth-ranked Georgia opens SEC Tournament action Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. ET against either Texas A&M or Vanderbilt at Hoover (Ala.) Metropolitan Stadium. The game will be televised on the SEC Network and be available on the Bulldog Sports Network from IMG.

The Bulldogs (37-17) are the No. 3 seed and earned a first round bye while the Aggies (36-19) square off against the Commodores  (31-24) Tuesday. The winner faces the Bulldogs, and Georgia will be the home team. Georgia went 2-1 against the Aggies in Athens in March while Vanderbilt claimed the series 2-1 in Nashville over Georgia in early April. Georgia plans to start freshman left-hander C.J. Smith (1-0, 0.90 ERA) on Wednesday and senior right-hander Chase Adkins (5-0, 4.15 ERA) on Thursday.

Georgia rolls into the postseason with a No. 3 RPI after posting the second best record in SEC action at 18-12. The Bulldogs are making their 24^thall-time appearance in the SEC Tournament. The Bulldogs best finish at an SEC Tournament is second (1985, 1986 and 1989) and their all-time record is 28-43.

Georgia is enjoying its finest season since 2008 when it advanced to the College World Series Finals and finished with a 45-25-1 record. That year, Georgia claimed the SEC regular season title by going 20-9-1, earned a National No.  8 seed, played host to and won an Athens Regional and Super Regional to advance to Omaha. Georgia's last NCAA Tournament appearance came in 2011.

The 2018 Bulldogs are  averaging 6.4 runs a game while batting .286 with a 3.71 ERA and a .979 fielding percentage. In SEC action, the Bulldogs batted .280 with a 4.24 ERA and a league-leading .982 fielding percentage. Georgia's 3.71 ERA is the best in 50 years (3.66 in 1968). The current .979 fielding percentage would be a school record. Georgia's .286 batting average is the highest in 10 seasons, and the 54 home runs are the most since a record 109 in 2009. Georgia's Ike Cousins head baseball coach Scott Stricklin and assistant Scott Daeley are in their fifth season at UGA while pitching coach Sean Kenny and volunteer coach Pete Hughes are in their first season.

Four Bulldog Honored By SEC: Senior outfielder and biology major Keegan McGovern (.330-15-44) has been named SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year as well as First Team All-SEC, the league announced Monday. McGovern is the first Bulldog to earn Scholar Athlete-of-the Year honors since All-American Gordon Beckham in 2008. Juniors Michael Curry (DH) and Adam Sasser (1B) made Second Team All-SEC while Mason Meadows (C) was selected to the SEC All Freshman squad. Curry is batting .327-10-47; Sasser is hitting .321-9-41 while Meadows is batting .288-3-25.

Pitching Matchups: UGA vs. Texas A&M or Vanderbilt
Wed. at 10:30 am ET: C.J. Smith (1-0, 0.90 ERA), LHP, Fr. vs. TBA
Thurs. Time, Opponent, TBA: Chase Adkins (5-0, 4.15 ERA), RHP, Sr. vs. TBA

Television/Radio
TV:—All games of the tournament will be televised live. The SEC Network will air games 1-16 played Tuesday-Saturday, while ESPN will carry the championship game.
Radio: Georgia Bulldog Sports Network from IMG College (David Johnston & Jeff Dantzler)
Stations: 960 AM-WRFC and selected affiliates (check your local listings), also via the Georgia Bulldogs app and TuneIn app.
Satellite Radio: All games of the tournament will be on SiriusXM via the SEC Radio Network.
Tuesday-Thursday: 1^stsession games: 190/374; 2^ndsession games: 84/374
Friday: 84/374; Saturday: 190/374; Sunday: 84/374
Additional Coverage on Twitter: @BaseballUGA

Follow the Dawgs
For the latest on Georgia Baseball, follow the team on Twitter (@baseballUGA), Instagram (@baseballuga) and Facebook (GeorgiaBaseball).

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Players Mentioned

Chase Adkins

Michael Curry

Keegan McGovern

Mason Meadows

Adam Sasser

C.J. Smith