I'll freely admit that I never thought that Ga Southern would take a series from us two years in a row. Not only have they done that, they've really hammered in us in the rubber game Sunday each of the last two years. Ga Southern played with more intensity than we did the last two seasons, in my humble opinion, and certainly pitched better. I feel confident in saying that they got our attention and from what I've been able to pick up, this weekend has long been a bigger blip on the radar screen than Florida State.
Friday night we're going to see Evan Challenger. The 6'1, 175 pound south paw is a third year sophomore who redshirted last season. Challenger's freshman year was a mixed bag. He made his college debut against UGA in 2013 and went on to pitch in 17 games and 38 1/3 innings. He posted a 4.23 ERA and the opposition hit .329 against him. He posted a 24/10 K/BB. He's off to a strong start this year, posting a 1-0 record in 2 starts. He's thrown 9 and 2/3 innings on the year and allowed a 9/2 K/BB and .194 average against. He had something of a rough outing the last time against West Virginia, lasting 4 1/3 innings and allowing 5 hits and 4 runs, with 3 K's and 2 BB's.
Saturday afternoon, we'll face Tripp Sheppard. a tall, stout senior righty from Shady Dale. Sheppard spent his first two seasons at Georgia Perimeter. We saw him for an inning and two third last year in the middle game. Last season he pitched in 23 games, all in relief. He threw 20 2/3 innings and posted a 5.23 ERA. He had a 14/8 K/BB and .317 average against. Sheppard will be making his first career start at Ga Southern this weekend. On the year, he's made 4 appearances and thrown 4 1/3 innings. He has an 8.31 ERA and .294 average against. He has struck out 3 and walked 2. He's built like a starter, though his numbers suggest that he's a 1 inning guy most of the time from the bullpen.
On Sunday, we're going to see freshman lefty Connor Simmons from Baxley. The former Appling County Pirate is listed at 6'2, 160 lbs. Simmons' numbers have been very good in the early going. He's thrown 9 innings in 2 appearances, both starts. He has a 2.00 ERA and .171 average against. He has 6 K's and 5 BB's.
It's a pretty good bet that we'll see Jason Richman at least once this weekend. The sidewinding lefty started against us on Sunday in 2013.... I don't remember him throwing from a low arm slot then, but that game went sideways in a hurry and I was far more concerned with what we were doing. Stricklin said this morning that Richman lead the nation in appearances last season. He made 47 overall... He's already pitched in 6 of Ga Southern's 9 games this year. In 12 innings, he's K'd 15 and walked 3. He has a .132 average against.
I'm really surprised to see Chase Griffin back for a senior year. The catcher from Leesburg was on everyone's radar screen following a steller freshman year. Last season didn't go so well for him though as he only hit .258/.336/.369 with 3 HRs. It's early yet, but he's off to a much better start on the year now, hitting .333/.375/.528 with 1 HR. He's had multi hit games in 5 of Ga Southern's 9 games so far. We should see Griffin hitting 3rd or 4th this weekend, probably 3rd.
Sophomore 1B Ryan Cleveland, older brother of Ben Cleveland, is off to a very slow start this season, hitting just .160/.353/.280. You respect his ability to get on base, and he does have 3 doubles on the young year, but I'm sure it's not the start he was expecting. Cleveland has been hitting cleanup for Ga Southern. It'll be interesting to see where he finds himself this weekend.
Last weekend against Florida State, I kept wanting to call their 3rd baseman Dalton Busby (instead of Dylan Busby), but didn't know why. The level of internal confusion didn't quite rise to the level of Googling, but it did bug me why I kept trying to call him Dalton. Well, Dalton Busby is actually Ga Southern's SS. They're brothers. The elder Busby, who hails from Bradenton Florida, is hitting .231/.333/.346 on the year. Errors aren't a great way to evaluate defense. With that said, Busby has made 4 already this season.
As a team, Georgia Southern is fielding .949. They aren't running a great deal, having attempted only 13 steals, converting 8. Opponents are 6/8 in that department against Ga Southern.
They're entering play 5-4 overall. They swept Bethune Cookman to start the season, then dropped a mid week game to tech. They took 2 of 3 from West Virginia over the weekend, but then dropped both midweek games to The Citadel at home and on the road against our friends from North Florida. The lost the North Florida game after taking a 2 run lead into the bottom of the 9th, giving up a 2 run double to end it.
I think it's fair to say that there's been a great deal of disappointment in how we've played against these guys the last two years. This is a very big deal to Georgia Southern, and they approach it that way. Sunday afternoon last year, they brought their closer, McCall, into a 16-2 game in the 6th inning and rode him for the final 10 outs. That's the kind of stuff that you do in game 3 of a Super Regional, not game 3 of the opening weekend. That said something to me about their program. It also says something about how they view us. And that's fine. We weren't a very good team the last two season when we played them and we were still trying to work out a number of issues with our pitching staff. That's not the case now. Futhermore, I'd like to think that our players and coaches realize how ridiculous it is for the University of Georgia to get blown out two rubber games in a row by Georgia Southern. Everyone gets fired up to play Florida State... their name, their history, etc. But I'm telling you, internally, I really think that this weekend is a bigger deal.
This is a series that I absolutely expect us to win and believe that we'll sweep. Expect to see a locked in team for 27 innings this weekend.
Friday night we're going to see Evan Challenger. The 6'1, 175 pound south paw is a third year sophomore who redshirted last season. Challenger's freshman year was a mixed bag. He made his college debut against UGA in 2013 and went on to pitch in 17 games and 38 1/3 innings. He posted a 4.23 ERA and the opposition hit .329 against him. He posted a 24/10 K/BB. He's off to a strong start this year, posting a 1-0 record in 2 starts. He's thrown 9 and 2/3 innings on the year and allowed a 9/2 K/BB and .194 average against. He had something of a rough outing the last time against West Virginia, lasting 4 1/3 innings and allowing 5 hits and 4 runs, with 3 K's and 2 BB's.
Saturday afternoon, we'll face Tripp Sheppard. a tall, stout senior righty from Shady Dale. Sheppard spent his first two seasons at Georgia Perimeter. We saw him for an inning and two third last year in the middle game. Last season he pitched in 23 games, all in relief. He threw 20 2/3 innings and posted a 5.23 ERA. He had a 14/8 K/BB and .317 average against. Sheppard will be making his first career start at Ga Southern this weekend. On the year, he's made 4 appearances and thrown 4 1/3 innings. He has an 8.31 ERA and .294 average against. He has struck out 3 and walked 2. He's built like a starter, though his numbers suggest that he's a 1 inning guy most of the time from the bullpen.
On Sunday, we're going to see freshman lefty Connor Simmons from Baxley. The former Appling County Pirate is listed at 6'2, 160 lbs. Simmons' numbers have been very good in the early going. He's thrown 9 innings in 2 appearances, both starts. He has a 2.00 ERA and .171 average against. He has 6 K's and 5 BB's.
It's a pretty good bet that we'll see Jason Richman at least once this weekend. The sidewinding lefty started against us on Sunday in 2013.... I don't remember him throwing from a low arm slot then, but that game went sideways in a hurry and I was far more concerned with what we were doing. Stricklin said this morning that Richman lead the nation in appearances last season. He made 47 overall... He's already pitched in 6 of Ga Southern's 9 games this year. In 12 innings, he's K'd 15 and walked 3. He has a .132 average against.
I'm really surprised to see Chase Griffin back for a senior year. The catcher from Leesburg was on everyone's radar screen following a steller freshman year. Last season didn't go so well for him though as he only hit .258/.336/.369 with 3 HRs. It's early yet, but he's off to a much better start on the year now, hitting .333/.375/.528 with 1 HR. He's had multi hit games in 5 of Ga Southern's 9 games so far. We should see Griffin hitting 3rd or 4th this weekend, probably 3rd.
Sophomore 1B Ryan Cleveland, older brother of Ben Cleveland, is off to a very slow start this season, hitting just .160/.353/.280. You respect his ability to get on base, and he does have 3 doubles on the young year, but I'm sure it's not the start he was expecting. Cleveland has been hitting cleanup for Ga Southern. It'll be interesting to see where he finds himself this weekend.
Last weekend against Florida State, I kept wanting to call their 3rd baseman Dalton Busby (instead of Dylan Busby), but didn't know why. The level of internal confusion didn't quite rise to the level of Googling, but it did bug me why I kept trying to call him Dalton. Well, Dalton Busby is actually Ga Southern's SS. They're brothers. The elder Busby, who hails from Bradenton Florida, is hitting .231/.333/.346 on the year. Errors aren't a great way to evaluate defense. With that said, Busby has made 4 already this season.
As a team, Georgia Southern is fielding .949. They aren't running a great deal, having attempted only 13 steals, converting 8. Opponents are 6/8 in that department against Ga Southern.
They're entering play 5-4 overall. They swept Bethune Cookman to start the season, then dropped a mid week game to tech. They took 2 of 3 from West Virginia over the weekend, but then dropped both midweek games to The Citadel at home and on the road against our friends from North Florida. The lost the North Florida game after taking a 2 run lead into the bottom of the 9th, giving up a 2 run double to end it.
I think it's fair to say that there's been a great deal of disappointment in how we've played against these guys the last two years. This is a very big deal to Georgia Southern, and they approach it that way. Sunday afternoon last year, they brought their closer, McCall, into a 16-2 game in the 6th inning and rode him for the final 10 outs. That's the kind of stuff that you do in game 3 of a Super Regional, not game 3 of the opening weekend. That said something to me about their program. It also says something about how they view us. And that's fine. We weren't a very good team the last two season when we played them and we were still trying to work out a number of issues with our pitching staff. That's not the case now. Futhermore, I'd like to think that our players and coaches realize how ridiculous it is for the University of Georgia to get blown out two rubber games in a row by Georgia Southern. Everyone gets fired up to play Florida State... their name, their history, etc. But I'm telling you, internally, I really think that this weekend is a bigger deal.
This is a series that I absolutely expect us to win and believe that we'll sweep. Expect to see a locked in team for 27 innings this weekend.
