Georgia Battles No. 5 LSU At Foley Field Thursday

ATHENS-----Georgia returns to Southeastern Conference play Thursday against fifth-ranked LSU with first pitch at Foley Field slated for 6:02 p.m. ET. Friday's game will be at 6:02 p.m. and Saturday's starts at 1:02 p.m. The entire series will be available on SEC Network+ and the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network.

The Bulldogs (28-24, 10-17 SEC) close out the regular season with the Tigers (40-12, 17-9 SEC). Georgia is 9-8 in its last 17 SEC games following a 1-9 start. Georgia looks to earn one of the 12 spots in the SEC Tournament. Ten teams have clinched a spot. The Bulldogs are tied for 11^th in the SEC with Missouri as both are 10-17 in the league while Miss. State is next at 8-19 and defending national champion Ole Miss has been eliminated from making the tournament. Missouri is at Auburn while MSU plays host to Texas A&M.

Georgia is 7-5 in SEC home games including series wins over No. 10 Kentucky, No. 4 Arkansas and No. 18 Tennessee. Georgia went 3-12 in SEC road games with the wins coming at No. 2 Florida, Ole Miss and Auburn. LSU is 7-4 in SEC road games, most recently dropping a series at Auburn earlier this month. Then, LSU lost a home series to Miss. State last weekend. The Tigers beat McNeese State 7-4 Tuesday while the Bulldogs had their midweek game with Western Carolina rained out.

Series History: LSU leads the series 70-25-2 as it dates to 1975 when the teams met in the SEC Playoffs in a two-game home-and-home series to determine the league champion. The Tigers won both games. LSU claimed the 2022 series in Baton Rouge 2-1 that featured a 4-3 walk-off in the rubber game (2-run HR by Cade Doughty). Georgia last played host to LSU in 2019, and the Bulldogs captured that series 2-1 (L 1-0, W 2-0, W 9-7). Also, Georgia eliminated LSU at the 2021 SEC Tournament with a 4-1 win.

The Rotation: Georgia will start a trio of left-handers for the fourth time in the SEC this season. This will be the fifth different SEC rotation the Bulldogs have employed as junior ace Jaden Woods (3-2, 5.59) has missed the past four series due to bicep tendonitis. Freshman Jarvis Evans (2-0, 4.67) will make his first SEC start on Thursday after registering wins in relief against No. 5 Arkansas and No. 18 Tennessee. The Bulldogs will go with juniors Charlie Goldstein (3-1 ,4.50) and Liam Sullivan (4-2, 5.83) on Friday and Saturday. This year, the Bulldogs have a 6.41 ERA with 477 strikeouts and 249 walks. Opponents are batting .271 versus Georgia.

LSU has a 4.68 ERA with 570 strikeouts and 210 walks. Opponents are hitting .226 against the Tigers. The projected premium draft pick in junior RHP Paul Skenes (10-1, 1.69 ERA, 152K, 14 BB in 79.2 IP) will go Thursday. The Tiger starters for the final two games will be junior RHP Ty Floyd (6-0, 4.53) and sophomore LHP Javen Coleman (1-1, 6.00).

At The Plate: Georgia is batting .289 with 94 home runs, a .387 OB% and is 33-for-39 in stolen base attempts. Redshirt freshman 1B/OF Charlie Condon is one of the leading hitters in the SEC and chasing the team's triple crown, batting .415-24-65 and has an SEC-best .850 SLG% (ranks 3rd nationally). Graduate Connor Tate ranks second on the club in batting at .390-15-53. Condon and Tate share the SEC lead in hits with 80 apiece. Parks Harber rounds out this trio of sluggers at .281-17-53. Condon and Tate are the only two Bulldogs to start all 52 games this year.

The Tigers are batting .314 with 104 home runs, a .443 OB% and are 22-for-30 in stolen base attempts. Their lineup features the league's top hitter and projected top draft pick in junior Dylan Crews (.438-13-55) plus sophomore Tommy White (.400-18-86) and freshman Jared Jones (.309-14-45).

Senior Day Saturday: Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Senior Day has featured a collection of seniors, graduates and grad transfers who have the option of being recognized in the final home game regardless of their future plans. On Saturday, nine Bulldogs have elected to be honored: Nolan Crisp (RHP), Will David (INF/C), Charlie Goldstein (LHP), Kyle Greenler (RHP), Bryce Melear (RHP), Michael Polk (RHP), Dalton Rhadans (RHP), Josh Stinson (OF) and Jaden Woods (LHP).

Radio/TV/Live Stats Information

Thursday at 6:02 pm ET (SECN+)
Radio: 960TheRef: https://georgiadogs.com/watch/?Live=4410&type=Archive
TV: SEC Network (Matt Stewart & Jason Jacobs): https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=85983558-991a-4d26-b935-f31051c91820
Live Stats: https://georgiadogs.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary

Friday at 6:02 p.m. ET (SECN+)
Radio: 960TheRef: https://georgiadogs.com/watch/?Live=4411&type=Archive
TV: SEC Network (Matt Stewart & Jason Jacobs): https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=1715969e-4442-406c-822c-1dd35d7242e4
Live Stats: https://georgiadogs.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary

Saturday at 1:02 p.m. ET (SECN+)
Radio: 960TheRef: https://georgiadogs.com/watch/?Live=4412&type=Archive
TV: SEC Network (Matt Stewart & Jason Jacobs): https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=ca009d5d-0edb-490b-936c-67c783e1a410
Live Stats: https://georgiadogs.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary

Tickets/Parking/Promotion Information
*A limited number of tickets are available in the Left Field Bleachers and in the Right Field Bleachers.
                *Fans can get seats from other fans through our official secondary ticketing partner StubHub.
https://www.stubhub.com/georgia-bulldogs-baseball-tickets/performer/400525/
                *Fans with tickets who are unable to come are encouraged to transfer them to other Bulldog fans, return them to UGAAA or resell them on StubHub.
*Foley Field Gates open one hour before game time.
                  *Free parking is available in the commuter surface lot behind the outfield.
                  *Promotions: Thurs.: (1st 500 fans get a Georgia Sandlot t-shirt); Sat. Senior Day; Family Fun Day features Anthem Buddies Before the game and Kids Run The Bases After the Game

FOLLOW THE BULLDOGS: For the latest Georgia baseball news, visit www.georgiadogs.com and follow the Bulldogs on Twitter (@BaseballUGA), Facebook (@GeorgiaBaseball) and Instagram (@baseballuga).

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Players Mentioned

Charlie Condon

Nolan Crisp

Will David

Jarvis Evans

Charlie Goldstein

Kyle Greenler

Parks Harber

Bryce Melear

Michael Polk

Dalton Rhadans

Josh Stinson

Liam Sullivan

Connor Tate

Jaden Woods