University of Georgia Athletics
Georgia Begins Longwood Series Friday
March 05, 2015 | Baseball
Game Notes
ATHENS-----Georgia is 8-4 on the year including 8-1 at home after registering wins over Furman and Georgia State earlier this week. The Bulldogs are in the middle of a season-long 10-game stretch at Foley Field. Up next, the Bulldogs face Longwood (4-6) in three-game series beginning Friday at 5:05 p.m.
The Lancers, who are based in Farmville, Va., and members of the Big South Conference since 2013, saw their midweek games postponed due to inclement weather. They have been Division I since 2008 and advanced to the Division II World Series in 1982 and 1991. This will be Georgia's first meeting with the Lancers. Longwood, led by first-year coach Ryan Mau, returns its ace junior Aaron Myers (1-2, 2.95 ERA) who will start Friday. Last year, Myers went 7-4 with a 1.76 ERA with 89 strikeouts in 107.1 innings pitched. In their last action, the Lancers won two of three from Army to snap a six-game skid.
For the season, Georgia is batting .290 with 11 home runs while the ERA is a solid 2.31. One area where Georgia continues to shine is on defense as the Bulldogs own a .988 Fielding Percentage, which ranks fourth nationally. They have made just five errors this year and two of those were by a pitcher. Longwood is batting .254 with a 4.90 ERA and fielding .958.
Georgia will be without two-thirds of its rotation this weekend as sophomore Robert Tyler (1-0, 3.86 ERA) and junior David Sosebee (2-0, 1.04 ERA) are sidelined. Junior Ryan Lawlor (2-1, 2.77) will start Friday and junior RHP Sean McLaughlin (1-1, 2.70 ERA) gets the start Saturday at 2:05 p.m. Both teams are TBA for Sunday. Last weekend, the Bulldogs endured a tough first road trip as Georgia Southern held them to a .165 batting average and only six runs scored while stranding 24 runners on base. Georgia's top two pitchers, Tyler and Lawlor, combined to throw just 4.2 innings in the series due to injury and rain. Tyler left Friday night's game after 3.2 innings with a forearm strain.Tyler will be progressed back to pitching as tolerated. Then on Saturday, Lawlor pitched just one inning before the game was halted on account of rain.Sosebee pitched 6.1 scoreless innings Sunday and tied his career-high with eight strikeouts when he started the halted game. However, he left with an illness and might miss his turn in the rotation. Meanwhile in game two last Sunday, McLaughlin tossed five innings and allowed one run on five hits with six strikeouts. In his last two starts, McLaughlin is 1-0 with a 0.90 ERA with 3 walks and 11 strikeouts in 10 innings pitched.
Georgia's leading hitter is sophomore center fielder Stephen Wrenn at .404-0-6, and he has reached base in all 12 games this year along with a current seven-game hitting streak. Senior first baseman/pitcher Jared Walsh (.303-1-8) has a career-best nine-game hitting streak. On the mound, he is 1-0 with a 1.64 ERA in four appearances including one start. Sophomore Trevor Kieboom (.308-1-4) will likely miss the Longwood series due to a hand injury so look for freshman Mitchell Webb (.182-0-5) and junior utility Bulldog DJ Smith (.300-0-1) to see time at third base in this series.
Radio/TV Information
Radio: Georgia Bulldog Sports Network from IMG College, every game this season
Play-by-Play: David Johnston & Jeff Dantzler
Stations: 960 AM-WRFC and selected affiliates (check your local listings), georgiadogs.com
TV: SEC Network + (Radio Simulcast), All three games
Ticket Information: Single game Reserved seats at Foley Field: $8 each; General Admission: $5 apiece and can be purchased online. Georgia ticket office (877-542-1231) between 8:30 am-4:30 pm Monday-Friday. UGA students admitted free with their valid UGA Student ID card. UGA Student Gate is located off Rutherford Street.
Promotions: Multiple during the game.
Saturday, March 7:
*Have a Catch: Fans can play catch in the outfield for 30 minutes after the game
Sunday, March 8:
*Bulldog Anthem Buddies: All kids in attendance are invited to stand with their favorite player in the field during the National Anthem.
*Kids Run The Bases: After the game, kids can run the bases.
