No. 9 Georgia Heads To Missouri For SEC Series

ATHENS, Ga.----- The ninth-ranked Georgia Bulldogs return to SEC action Friday night in Columbia, Missouri as they face the Tigers.
Friday and Sunday's action will be streamed on SEC Network+ while Saturday will be featured on the SEC Network at 8 p.m. ET. The entire series will be available on the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network.

In year two under Ike Cousins head baseball coach Wes Johnson, the Bulldogs (36-11, 12-9 SEC) have been a consensus top 10 ranked team all season and are ranked as high as No. 3 (Perfect Game) this week. The Bulldogs are 27-3 at home, 6-8 on the road and 3-0 at neutral sites this season.

The Bulldogs have three SEC series left in the regular season. After the trip to Missouri, Georgia will be at No. 18 Alabama next weekend and then finish at Foley Field against Texas A&M. Please note the final regular season home game on Saturday, May 17^th versus the Aggies has been moved up to a Noon start after being picked up by the SEC Network.

In the series history, Georgia holds a 17-16 edge over Missouri as the programs have met every year (except 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic) since the Tigers joined the SEC in 2013. The Tigers swept the Bulldogs in Columbia in 2023 while Georgia claimed the series last year 2-1 in Athens. Missouri (13-31, 0-21 SEC) fell 9-3 at No. 25 Kansas (36-10) this past Tuesday as the Tigers have dropped their last eight contests.

The Bulldogs are batting .292 with a .569 slugging percentage and an NCAA-leading 113 home runs. They have a .421 on base percentage, been hit 102 times plus are 56-for-63 in stolen bases. The team's leading hitters are Ryland Zaborowski (.372-16-58, .822 SLG%), Slate Alford (.335-13-51) and Robbie Burnett (.316, SEC-leading 19 home runs plus 57 RBI). The injury bug has limited Zaborowski of late as he missed the final two games of the Vanderbilt series due to his foot and then left last Saturday's game in the second inning due to an elbow injury on a throw home. He did not play Tuesday against Kennesaw State and is out for the series with the Tigers. Meanwhile, Burnett was the team's top hitter in the Commodore series, batting .417 (5-for-12) with two doubles, a home run and two RBI while Alford and junior Kolby Branch (.311-10-29) were the team's top threats against No. 14 Oklahoma. Alford and Branch hit .417 in the series with four RBI. Alford has a team-best 30-game on base streak and has reached base in 46 of 47 games this season.

Missouri is batting .267 with a .420 slugging percentage and 43 home runs. The leading hitters for the Tigers are Jackson Lovich (.352-8-40) and Pierre Seals (.305-4-17).

The Bulldogs have posted a 4.92 ERA with 490 strikeouts and 215 walks. Opponents are batting .230 against Georgia. The Tigers have a 9.63 ERA with 351 strikeouts and 236 walks this season. Opponents are batting .327 against the Tigers with 74 home runs. Georgia's fielding percentage is .982 while Missouri is fielding .962.

UGA-MIZZ Pitching Matchups
Thurs.: Brian Curley (2-2, 3.43), Jr., RHP vs.  TBA
Fri.: TBA vs. TBA
Sat.: Leighton Finley (2-1, 5.40), Jr., RHP vs. TBA

Radio/TV/Live Stats Links
Download the official App of the Georgia Bulldogs
https://georgiadogs.com/feature/mobile-app
Live Stat Links:
Fri.:  https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=589583
Sat: https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=589584
Sun: https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=589592

Friday @ 7:02 p.m. EDT
Radio: 960TheRef (Jeff Dantzler & David Johnston)
https://georgiadogs.com/watch/?Live=4819&type=Live
TV: SEC Network+ (Max Thoma & Dylan Kelly)
https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/8b110c77-603d-451b-8691-4a78c3238c8c/country/us/redirected/true

Saturday @ 8:02 p.m. EDT
Radio: 960TheRef (Jeff Dantzler & David Johnston)
https://georgiadogs.com/watch/?Live=4820&type=Live
TV: SEC Network (Victor Rojas & Lance Cormier)
https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/a147d863-92b6-40b4-a441-b3e7ef76364e/country/us/redirected/true

Sunday @ 2:02 p.m. EDT
Radio: 960TheRef (Jeff Dantzler & David Johnston)
https://georgiadogs.com/watch/?Live=4821&type=Live
TV: SEC Network+ (Max Thoma & Dylan Kelly)
https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/cdb35738-72e8-4add-9736-c3f6ae7e8cbf/country/us/redirected/true

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

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Players Mentioned

Kolby Branch

University of Georgia Athletics