After posting a 15-3 record in its pre-conference slate, everything gets ratcheted up to a new level Friday night for the Tennessee baseball team as they open SEC play at Georgia.
Very few teams were hurt more than Georgia by the canceled 2020 season. The Bulldogs were ranked second nationally entering SEC play and were a popular pick to return to the College World Series for the first time since 2008.
Now, weekend arms Emerson Hancock (6th pick) and Cole Wilcox (80th pick) are playing professional baseball, lowering the expectations in Athens for eighth year head coach Scott Stricklin. The Bulldogs were picked fifth in the SEC East preseason and remain unranked after their 13-3 start.
“Last time Georgia was here it was all about Emerson Hancock,” Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello said. “A potential first pick overall type of guy and a couple other big arms that soak up a lot of attention, but there’s many guys that play over a course of a weekend, not just pitch, so for us and them there’s a much more balanced feel.
You may not know a lot of these names as household names but from recruiting a lot of them look very familiar.”
Georgia is a solid team again in 2021 and are very far from a pushover or easy series win. However, compared to the gauntlet of SEC play, Tennessee’s opening weekend opponent is manageable.
In fact, Tennessee’s first three weekend series (at Georgia, vs. LSU, at Alabama) all present winnable series. While none of them are pushovers for Tennessee, LSU and Georgia are a bit down this season and while promising under third year coach Brad Bohannon, the Crimson Tide are still near the bottom of the SEC west.
Following the first three weeks, is back-to-back home series with Vanderbilt and Florida— two of the nation’s best teams. With these two looming, it's important for Tennessee to come out of the gates strong in SEC play, something the program hasn’t traditionally done well.
After a non-conference slate that saw Tennessee play five road games, win in pitcher’s duels, win in shootouts, win coming from behind and win in high emotion games, Vitello is confident with where his team is at entering conference play.
“I don’t know how to quantify it, I just know if you compare the history with the teams we’ve had at Tennessee so far, we’re light years ahead of where we were our first two years here,” Vitello said. “Now we’re finally starting to show some characteristics, and even a better version of last year. Able to get through adversity, coming together and having some personality and a little bit of quirkiness in a good way. Having some fight and some togetherness when things get tough. I think part of it is because their schedule has been so difficult.”
Despite the losses of Hancock and Wilcox, Georgia’s strength remains its pitching staff that ranks eighth nationally with 2.35 team ERA.
True freshman Luke Wagner will get the ball for Georgia on Friday night, despite not being Georgia’s most dominant pitcher to date. Still, Wagner has been strong this year in two starts and two bullpen appearances, recording a 3-0 record and 0.71 ERA. Wagner will match up with Tennessee Friday starter Chad Dallas.
On Saturday, Georgia will throw its most dominant arm, LHP Ryan Webb. Webb is a projected second round pick in the upcoming MLB Draft and has been a reliable arm for Georgia for four seasons. The senior is yet to surrender a run this season, allowing a combined nine hits and walks while striking out 19. He will match up with Tennessee LHP Will Heflin.
Don’t expect a drop-off of starting pitching Sunday for Georgia. Draft eligible sophomore RHP Jonathan Cannon is set to get his second start of the season, closing the weekend for the Bulldogs.
Cannon has thrown just six innings this season due to injury, but is yet to give up a run in his two seasons in Athens. The Alpharetta, Georgia native is projected as the No. 15 overall pick in the MLB Draft by D1Baseball. Sunday will include two starters making their first ever SEC starts as UT will throw freshman Blade Tidwell. Ironically, Tidwell, like Cannon, will be draft eligible next season as a sophomore.
Georgia’s offense ranks just 12th in the SEC with 96 runs, scoring six per game. The Bulldogs’ offense includes four players hitting over .300 and three hitting over .360 (Connor Tate, Joshua McAllister, Corey Collins).
The trio also provides a bulk of Georgia’s power as Collins leads the team with four homers and McAllister is second with third. Tate has a staggering .463 on-base percentage and is second in the team in RBIs.
“It’s a little more balanced of a club. I think we are too,” Vitello said. “I think they can show you a lot of looks on the mound. They have a bunch of lefties, and they do some different stuff offensively. They don’t just rely on two or three guys to wail away or whatever it may be like that.”
First pitch Friday night from Athens is set for 6 p.m. ET. Saturday and Sunday’s games are set for 1 p.m. ET starts. All three games will be broadcast on SEC Network+.
