By Jake Mastroianni
Kentucky 13-2 (0-0) at Georgia (19-1)
The warm-up part of the college baseball season is over, and now it’s time for the real fun with SEC play beginning this weekend!
Last year, going into SEC play, we didn’t really know what to make of Kentucky. They were 14-3 and coming off a series loss to Kennesaw State. But then they hosted Georgia the first weekend of SEC play and swept the Bulldogs rather convincingly.
This year, the Wildcats travel to Athens to kick things off, and the Bulldogs won’t be taking them lightly.
Both of these teams were being slept on last preseason before going on to have big years.
However this season, Georgia is currently ranked as a top 10 team, while many people do not believe in Kentucky yet.
This weekend will be a chance for Georgia to show there is some separation between them and the middle of the SEC, while Kentucky will try to prove everyone wrong again.
At the Plate
Both of these teams have been able to score plenty of runs early on, averaging around 9 runs a game, but they get it done in very different ways.
Georgia is one of the top slugging teams in the conference with 46 home runs and a .591 SLG, compared to Kentucky at just 16 home runs and a .471 SLG. Granted, Georgia’s home ballpark (and weather early in the season) is also more favorable to the long ball.
As we saw in 2024, the Wildcats are going to try and beat you in a variety of ways. They’re averaging 5.4 walks a game this year and a little over 3 stolen bases. Georgia has been even better at drawing walks with 6.8 per game, but they’re swiping just 1.5 bags a game.
Both of these teams aren’t afraid of getting bruised up as they’re 1-2 in the SEC in getting hit by pitches.
Hitters to Watch
Georgia:
After a slow start, Tre Phelps has gotten going. He’s hitting .329 on the year with 5 home runs. Over his last 11 games, he’s 19-40 with 6 walks and 4 home runs.
DH Ryland Zaborowski leads the team with a .442 average, 10 home runs, and 36 RBI. And he is coming off a monster weekend in which he picked up 7 RBI in back-to-back games.
Another transfer having a major impact is second baseman Robbie Burnett, who is second on the team hitting .362 with 9 home runs and leads the team with 10 stolen bases.
A bat the Bulldogs would like to get going again is third baseman Slate Alford. The big power bat has just 1 home run in his last 8 games and only 2 hits and 1 RBI in his last 4 games.
Kentucky:
Cole Hage, the transfer from Columbia, has really carried the Kentucky offense early on leading the team with a .458 average, 21 runs scored, 4 home runs, and 8 stolen bases.
A lot is being asked of freshman Tyler Bell, who has been hitting third or fourth in the lineup a lot this year. He’s given them solid production, batting .333 with 19 runs scored, 5 doubles, 3 home runs, 17 RBI, and 5 stolen bases.
On the Mound
This is where you could potentially find a huge advantage for Kentucky as they’re second in the SEC with a 1.89 ERA, while Georgia is next to last at 4.37.
Georgia is slightly better with the strikeouts having a 10.9 K/9 compared to 10.4 for Kentucky. But the big difference comes in the walks, where the Kentucky staff has a solid 3.4 BB/9 and Georgia is walking 4.7 batters per 9 innings.
And while the Georgia offense is boosted by their home ballpark, the pitching staff suffers, giving up 0.85 home runs per game compared to just 0.2 for Kentucky.
Kentucky seems to have settled into a weekend rotation with Nic McCay, Ben Cleaver, and Ethan Walker.
Georgia is still trying to figure things out as they ramp up Charlie Goldstein and Kolten Smith. Leighton Finley has struggled with a 6.00 ERA and 1.73 WHIP so far. JT Quinn has yet to throw more than 2 innings but could be a weekend option at some point.
Alabama transfer Alton Davis has had some blow-up outings after getting stretched out to begin the year.
But they do have some solid arms out of the bullpen if they can get there with the lead in Jordan Stephens, DJ Radtke, Tyler McLoughlin, and Brian Curley.
Pitchers to Watch
Kentucky:
Nic McCay has been untouchable to begin the season, allowing just 9 hits in 21.1 innings and 1 earned run. He has walked 10 with 20 strikeouts.
Scott Rouse is a real weapon out of the pen with 19 strikeouts and just 3 walks in 15 innings this year.
The most dominant arm for the Wildcats has been Jackson Nove. In just 9 innings, he’s racked up 18 strikeouts while allowing just 2 hits and 4 walks.
Georgia:
Perhaps the reliever in college baseball who has gotten the most press this year is Brian Curley, with his 100 MPH fastball and wipeout slider. In 10 innings this year, he’s struck out 17 batters and allowed just 1 hit, which came in last weekend’s finale against Columbia over the 2 innings he pitched.
It’s been a slow ramp-up for Charlie Goldstein, going from 1 inning, 1 inning, 2 innings, and 3 innings in the first four weeks. He’s looked really good in those short stints and the velo has been up. Getting him back up to full strength will be huge for a rotation that has disappointed so far.
Kolten Smith looked the best he has all year last weekend coming on in relief against Columbia to allow just 1 earned run on 3 hits and a walk over 4 innings with 6 strikeouts. Like with Goldstein, if they can get Smith stretched back out and into the rotation, you could see that group turn things around quickly.
Weekend schedule and probables (not confirmed)
Fri., March 14 at 6 pm EST
Nic McCay vs. Charlie Goldstein
Sat., March 15 at 2 pm EST
Ben Cleaver vs. Leighton Finley
Sun., March 16 at 1 pm EST
Ethan Walker vs. TBD
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