Series Preview: Texas A&M at No. 13 Georgia
Also included above is Diamond Talk with David Nuño, Ryan Brauninger, Richard Zane and Scott Clendenin from Thursday’s edition of TexAgs Radio.
Who: No. 13 Georgia Bulldogs (25-8, 8-4 SEC)
Where: Foley Field – Athens, Georgia
When:
Thursday: 5 p.m. CT (SEC Network+)
Friday: 5 p.m. CT (SEC Network+)
Saturday: 3 p.m. CT (SEC Network+)
Pitching matchups
Thursday: Nathan Dettmer (RHP, 2-2, 4.24) vs. Nolan Crisp (RHP, 0-0, 4.64)
Friday: TBA vs. Luke Wagner (RHP, 5-1, 5.01)
Saturday: Micah Dallas (RHP, 4-1, 3.99) vs. Liam Sullivan (LHP, 3-1, 3.57)
Scouting Georgia
Not that there’s ever a good time to face the No. 13 team on the road, but the Bulldogs are trying to navigate several significant injuries this week. The big news is on the mound where Friday night ace Jonathan Cannon (6-1, 1.71 ERA) will miss his turn in the rotation with a lingering muscle strain. Cannon and closer Jack Gowen have been the only two constants on a struggling Bulldog pitching staff with a bloated team ERA of 5.15. If you take Cannon’s statistics out of Georgia’s pitching numbers, the remaining staff sports a 9.32 ERA, which would be dead last in the SEC. In addition, the Bulldog staff has walked a whopping 157 batters this season, 54 more free passes than Texas A&M hurlers have surrendered in 2022. In the past week without Cannon, Georgia pitching has surrendered 39 runs in their last four contests. The announced starting rotation for this weekend has a grand total of eight starts. Head coach Scott Stricklin is searching for short-term answers.
The Georgia offense has picked up the slack from the pitching struggles with a team .295 batting average and a juicy slugging percentage of .462. Georgia has plated 41 more runs than the Aggies in 2022. The Bulldog hitters have generated 40 runs over the last four games for a ten-run/game average. Again, there is a caveat. Stricklin announced earlier this week that starting shortstop and second-leading hitter (.331 batting average) Cole Tate will not be available this weekend due to injury. He’s not a top-run producer, but he’s a tough out at the plate and a steady, experienced fielder at the most critical position on the field. Again, Stricklin is forced to move more chess pieces to accommodate for these injuries.
With that said, Georgia still has plenty of firepower at the plate led by Connor Tate with a team-high batting average of .358 and 32 RBIs. Even with the injury to the shortstop, the Bulldogs will roll out five hitters in the lineup with a .299 average or higher. Corey Collins is a dangerous presence in the middle of the lineup with nine home runs, 28 RBIs and a team-leading .625 slugging percentage. Ben Anderson brings his .319 average into the weekend along with solid power numbers (6 HR, 20 RBI) and a team-high on-base percentage of .458. Parks Harber is a capable run producer with six long balls and his 31 RBIs would be tops on the Aggie offense. There’s danger up and down the lineup, even with the loss of Cole Tate this weekend, which should be expected from the No. 13 ranked Bulldogs.
| Hitting | Avg. | Runs | Slugging % | On-Base % | Strikeouts |
| Texas A&M | .282 | 211 | .440 | .384 | 300 |
| Georgia | .295 | 252 | .462 | .402 | 304 |
| Pitching | ERA | WHIP | Walks | Opp. Avg. | Strikeouts | Fielding % |
| Texas A&M | 4.37 | 1.36 | 103 | .250 | 293 | .972 |
| Georgia | 5.15 | 1.26 | 157 | .250 | 328 | .975 |
Texas A&M storylines to watch
To go on the road and beat No. 13 will take all facets of the game to hit on all cylinders. It must start on the mound with veteran anchors Nathan Dettmer and Micah Dallas. The duo seems to be hitting their stride after both combined to last 13 innings against Kentucky last weekend and set the table for both weekend wins. The thin A&M bullpen desperately needs these two veterans to carry a big load this weekend and keep the bullpen fresh.
As to the third starter (who will pitch the Friday game), head coach Jim Schlossnagle has not publicly announced who will tote the rubber on Friday. The likely candidates are Jacob Palisch and Chris Cortez. Both pitched well last week. Palisch is the experienced lefty transfer from Stanford who has pitched the College World Series. More importantly, he threw 5.1 scoreless innings last weekend and was dominant, striking out 11 opposing hitters. Cortez also threw five scoreless innings against Kentucky and his off-speed stuff has greatly improved in recent weeks, which helps that 96 mph fastball. Whether they start or come out of the bullpen, this pair has become critical components to this Aggie pitching staff.
Expect to see previous weekend starter Ryan Prager come out of the bullpen against Georgia. Even in his recent struggles, he’s always been solid the first time through the batting order, so he’ll provide much-needed work and will be in the fight this weekend despite the temporary demotion.
It’s no secret that the Aggie offense has kicked it into another gear in recent weeks and has taken advantage of the warmer temperatures and south winds. Most of the damage has been done from the middle 2-6 spots in the batting order coming from Dylan Rock, Jack Moss, Troy Claunch, Brett Minnich and Austin Bost.
We might need to expand that to a seventh spot with the recent explosion from Ryan Targac, who not only hit for the cycle over the weekend but has been hitting longballs all over the place. After a cold start to the season, Targac is now one of the leading run producers on the team with seven homers and 26 RBI (tied for second on the team). Given Georgia’s pitching struggles, the Aggies have to be licking their chops, but they must guard against being too aggressive. If they come to the plate with the right approach, spots 2-7 could and should be the difference this weekend.
And we haven’t even discussed the possibility of Trevor Werner getting back in the batting order. That would give A&M a dangerous 2-8 spots. As of Wednesday afternoon, there has been no decision on his participation this weekend, but he will travel.
Finally, every storyline discussion must include infield defense where A&M’s starting infield over the last 3-4 weeks has been a patchwork with the injuries to Werner and starting shortstop Kalae Harrison. The Aggies won’t beat No. 13 on the road giving that explosive Bulldog offense more than 27 outs in a game.
What’s at stake this weekend
It seems I say this every weekend, but this is a pivotal series. On paper, this looked to be a very difficult series and the start of the murderer’s row of SEC opponents going forward. However, with Georgia spinning with a couple of high profile injuries and a pitching staff that seems to be crumbling, the Aggies suddenly have a real chance to win this series if the two veteran starters can lead the way with a successful 13-14 innings and play good, solid defense all weekend. Do that and this hot Texas A&M offense should have plenty of opportunities to generate a lot of runs this weekend.
Play smart, and play clean. I’m cautiously optimistic that this team could come home for Easter with a winning record in SEC play, but it won’t be easy by any stretch. Still, the opportunity is there for the taking.
