Series Preview: No. 17 Texas A&M at Georgia

Who: University of Georgia  (19-6, 5-1 SEC)

Where: Foley Field — Athens, GA 

When:  Thursday 4:00 p.m. CT (SEC+)
             Friday 6:00 p.m. CT (SEC+)
             Saturday 1:00 p.m. CT (SEC+)

Pitching matchups

Friday: Stephen Kolek (RHP, 3-2 1.70) vs. Chase Atkins (RHP, 2-0, 4.34)

Saturday: John Doxakis (LHP, 4-0, 1.59) vs. Emerson Hancock (RHP, 3-1, 3.60)

Sunday: Mitchell Kilkenny (RHP, 5-0, 1.86) vs. Ryan Webb (LHP, 1-1, 2.88)

Scouting Georgia

The Bulldogs are a tough team to figure out. The headlines this week focus on Georgia's impressive 5-1 record in SEC play. That mark came against unranked SEC squads in South Carolina and Alabama, but it's unwise to downplay any SEC baseball record because all teams are formidable in this conference. The Bulldogs are red-hot right now, winning seven in a row and 12 of their last 13 games. Then again, this same team lost four consecutive games to College of Charleston (3) and Charleston Southern.

If you look at the numbers, Georgia is solid across the board. The team hits at a .293 clip (compared to A&M's .296) with 25 home runs (A&M - 25), a slugging percentage of .439 (A&M .457) and an on-base percentage of .387 (A&M - .378).

At 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds, Keegan McGovern is the all-everything team leader in almost every major offensive category. He leads the team in average (.378), home runs (10), slugging (.789), on-base percentage (.509) and runs scored (35). The senior outfielder is the centerpiece of the Bulldog offense. Job No. 1 for Texas A&M is to keep him off the bases and keep him from rounding the bases. Junior Michael Curry is also a force with a .347 batting average and five home runs. Georgia will also lean on Adam Sasser (.333) and Mason Meadows (.327). The offensive lineup will send up as many as six batters hitting above .300.

On the mound, Georgia relies on several high-profile freshmen, but they will open the series with senior right-hander Chase Adkins. He's been inconsistent so far in 2018 with a 2-0 record and an ERA of 4.34. Those aren't typical "Friday night starter" numbers, so the Aggie offense has a chance to make some noise against him. The Bulldogs will go with Emerson Hancock in game two. The freshman has a better stat line than Adkins, holding a 3.60 ERA and a hits-to-innings-pitched ratio at a respectable .74. With that said, Hancock leads the team with 14 walks, and his outing will be gauged on his control. Texas A&M should be patient with the freshman hurler and force him to throw strikes. Additionally, the Bulldogs have recently installed left-handed freshman Ryan Webb, who boasts a stellar 2.88 ERA but has also walked a number of opposing hitters, averaging over 3.25 free bases per nine innings pitched. 

Texas A&M storylines to watch

The storylines are pretty clear for Texas A&M. The defense can't commit the critical muscues that plagued the squad last weekend against Ole Miss. Second, somebody not named Nolan Hoffman must step up and become a trusted presence out of the bullpen. Kaylor Chafin has been good at times, but shaky far too many times to be considered a late-inning stopper. Cason Sherrod has great stuff, but control continues to weigh him down in tight situations. Freshman Asa Lacy has the makings of a quality starting pitcher in the future, but he's still trying to figure out his consistency coming out of the bullpen. It goes on from there. It's not that Texas A&M doesn't have talented arms that can come into the game in relief. The problem is consistency. Will Coach Childress get a dominant, clean inning from his man or will he dig himself a hole with a walk and a couple of hits? Whatever the case, the number one priority for this team is to identify another two arms – aside from Hoffman – that can be trusted to hold a lead in the last 3-4 innings of a ballgame. If a bullpen can't do that with some consistency, the rest of the team will start to press and play tight.

Stephanie Aiple

Aggie catcher Hunter Coleman appears to be emerging from a slump and could solidify his role in the clean-up spot with a good weekend at the plate.

At the plate, the lineup is going into the weekend in pretty good shape. Zach DeLoach showed signs of coming out of his mini-slump and had some good at-bats this past week. Michael Helman is hitting the cover off the ball at .400 and getting big hit after big hit. Braden Shewmake had a critical two-run homer on Tuesday, and he's doing some good things out of the 3-hole as expected. The biggest key in this lineup is the clean-up hitter where A&M has been searching for a permanent RBI guy. Hunter Coleman could be that guy. After struggling in the early portins of the 2018 season with a hamstring strain, Coleman has raised his batting average almost 40 points in the past week, and he's doubled his RBI total from 7 to 14. If the sophomore catcher can do this on a regular basis going forward, this offensive lineup suddenly goes from pretty good to dangerous.

Bottom line, A&M can win this road series with a little better bullpen work beyond closer Nolan Hoffman and if the clean-up hitter behind Helman and Shewmake can deliver some big hits.

What's at stake this weekend

Well, the Aggies are sitting at a disappointing 2-4 in conference play. Granted, they've faced two tough, nationally ranked teams in Auburn and Ole Miss, but, we're in the SEC and most teams will be nationally ranked. But for the next two weeks, A&M plays an unranked Georgia team and then hosts a struggling LSU squad with 10 losses already. The Aggies need to gain some ground and at a minimum get back to .500 ball in the SEC. That means they have to go out and win this road series against a 5-1 Georgia team. It's certainly possible. If the Aggies play up to their ability, they should win the series. But as we've seen through the first two series, nothing comes easy in the SEC and the results come down to one or two critical at-bats or plays in the field. A&M has to play a clean series to win.