University of Georgia Athletics
Georgia Continues SEC Action At Tennessee
April 21, 2011 | Baseball
April 21, 2011
ATHENS, Ga.----- Georgia (19-19 overall, 9-6 SEC) heads to Knoxville for an SEC series with the Volunteers (21-15, 4-11 SEC) that begins Friday at 6 p.m.
The Bulldogs are navigating through the nation's toughest rated schedule with 23 of its 38 games so far against ranked teams. Georgia has an SEC-high 10 wins against ranked opponents. This will be only the third weekend all year that Georgia will not play a series against a ranked team!
The Bulldogs are hitting .279 with 20 home runs, fielding .973 and have a 4.76 ERA. Last weekend in SEC action, Georgia batted .327 against #4 Florida and posted a perfect fielding percentage in 122 total chances.
Tennessee At A Glance
UT was slated to face Western Carolina on Wednesday, however the game was rained out. In their last action, the Volunteers claimed a series from No. 24 Alabama this past weekend in Tuscaloosa. After dropping the ESPNU Thursday Night opener 8-2, severe weather postponed game two and forced a pair of seven-inning games Saturday that UT won 2-1 and 1-0. It snapped a nine-game losing streak as the previous two SEC weekends, the Volunteers were swept by #3 Florida in Gainesville and then #3 South Carolina in Knoxville. UT is batting .290 with 20 home runs, fielding .974 with a 4.11 ERA. UT has one win each over Kentucky and Ole Miss.
UT plans to start junior LHP Steven Gruver (4-4, 2.60) on Friday and senior LHP Rob Catapano (2-3, 4.70) on Saturday. The Sunday starter is TBA. The Volunteers feature one of the fastest players in the league in Khayyan Norfork. The senior infielder is batting .378-3-31 and is 22-for-25 in stolen base attempts. Also, freshman outfielder Andrew Toles (.285-1-19) is 16-for-21 on the base paths. Seven different hurlers have registered at least one save for UT this season.
Bulldog Hitters To Watch
A pair of freshmen in outfielder Conor Welton (.293-0-4) and catcher Brandon Stephens (.294-0-7) combined for five of Georgia's nine hits Wednesday in a 5-2 loss to #21 Clemson. For Welton, it was a career-high three hit game. Earlier this year, Welton had a five-game hitting streak. He has seen more action since junior outfielder Johnathan Taylor was lost for the season due to a serious neck injury on March 6. Welton provides another left-handed bat in a lineup dominated with right-handed hitters. He has appeared in 30 games with 13 starts. Stephens has played 36 games with 20 starts behind the plate. In SEC action, Stephens is batting .387 with two doubles and four RBI.
Sophomore SS Kyle Farmer (.296-4-34) owns a career-best 16-game hitting streak. He is batting .397 during the streak (25-for-63) with 17 RBI. He hit .462 (6-for-13) with flawless defense in 18 total chances against the fourth-ranked Gators this past weekend. For the year, Farmer is fielding .942 in 171 total chances.
Junior 2B Levi Hyams (.340-1-21) owns an 8-game hitting streak. He is batting .378 during this stretch (14-for-37) with 8 RBI. Earlier this year, he had a career-best 11-game hitting streak.
Sophomore 3B Curt Powell (.277-1-9), a Knoxville native, has hit safely in eight of the past nine games. He is hitting .345 during this stretch (10-for-29) with 6 RBI. Powell played his first season at Volunteer State in Gallatin where he hit .489 with 34 stolen bases last season. Powell's Bulldog, JUCO and prep teammate, junior catcher Joey Delmonico (.265-0-3), also hails from Knoxville. They played for the highly successful Farragut High School program. Also of note, Joey's father, Rod, served as the head baseball coach at the University of Tennessee from 1990-2007.
Probable Starting Pitchers For The UT Series
Friday at 6 p.m. EDT
UGA: Alex Wood, LHP, So. (4-4, 4.02 ERA)
UT: Steven Gruver, LHP, Jr. (4-4, 2.60 ERA)
Saturday at 4 p.m. EDT
UGA: Michael Palazzone, RHP, Jr. (6-1, 2.13 ERA)
UT: Rob Catapano. LHP, Sr. (2-3, 4.70 ERA)
Sunday at 2 p.m. EDT
UGA: Craig Gullickson, LHP, Jr. (3-2, 6.67 ERA)
UT: TBA
Radio/TV Information For UT Series
Radio: Georgia Bulldog Sports Network from IMG College
Play-by-Play: Jeff Dantzler
Station: 960 AM-WRFC; 1230 AM-WFOM The Fan 2 (based in Marietta and covers Cobb, Gwinnett and Fulton county)
TV: None
The Johnathan Taylor Fund: Georgia junior outfielder Johnathan Taylor (J.T.) sustained a neck injury March 6 in a collision with a teammate during a game against Florida State. On March 7, Taylor had neck surgery at St. Mary's Hospital in Athens to stabilize his spine. On March 11, he was transferred to the Shepherd Center in Atlanta where he is currently a patient.
To honor J.T., the Bulldogs are wearing "JT-2" decals on the back of their batting helmets; "JT-2" is painted on the Foley Field wall in left center; they carry a framed picture of J.T. with them for their dugout; Zach Cone, Peter Verdin and Levi Hyams have worn Taylor's #2 jersey in several games this season.
Fans can donate to the Johnathan Taylor Fund through at each home game as Diamond Darlings will have a station set up outside the gates and will be in the stands collecting too.
Also, an account has been set up at First American Bank and Trust (FAB). Donations can be mailed to the following account or dropped off at any FAB location. First American Bank and Trust, c/o Johnathan Taylor Fund, P.O. Box 1688, Athens, Ga., 30603.
A website where individuals can send Johnathan messages and check for updates has been set up by the family.To send an online note to Johnathan and the family, please visit:
www.caringbridge.org/visit/Johnathantaylor.
