Midnight Train to Georgia: A preview of LSU’s weekend series against Georgia

DATES/TIMES

• Thursday, May 18 @ 5 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)
• Friday, May 19 @ 5 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)
• Saturday, May 20 @ 12 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)

STADIUM

• Foley Field in Athens, Ga. (3,291)

RANKINGS

• LSU – No. 4 in USA Today; No. 5 in D1 Baseball; No. 5 in Baseball America (No. 4 in NCAA RPI)
• UGA – unranked (No. 37 in NCAA RPI)

RADIO

• LSU Sports Radio Network affiliates, including 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge
• Live audio at www.LSUsports.net/live; Live stats at www.LSUstats.com

ONLINE

• All three games will be streamed on SEC Network +

PITCHING MATCHUPS

Game 1

LSU – Jr. RH Paul Skenes (10-1, 1.69 ERA, 79.2 IP, 14 BB, 152 SO)

UGA – Fr. LH Jarvis Evans (2-0, 4.67 ERA, 17.1 IP, 5 BB, 21 SO)

Game 2

LSU – Jr. RH Ty Floyd (6-0, 4.53 ERA, 59.2 IP, 27 BB, 69 SO)

UGA – Jr. LH Charlie Goldstein (3-1, 4.50 ERA, 44.0 IP, 15 BB, 45 SO)

Game 3

LSU – So. LH Javen Coleman (1-1, 6.00 ERA, 9.0 IP, 9 BB, 15 SO)

UGA – Jr. LH Liam Sullivan (4-2, 5.83 ERA, 58.2 IP, 29 BB, 70 SO)

After two straight SEC series losses to Auburn and Mississippi State, No.5 LSU looks to win its last weekend series of the year against Georgia in Athens.

Georgia (28-24 overall, 10-17 SEC) is coming off a rough weekend sweep loss against Missouri, who is in last place in the SEC East. For a team trying to make a late push to be included in the NCAA tournament, that was not the loss they needed.

The Tigers lead the all-time series with the Bulldogs with an overall record of 70-26-3. LSU has won 11 of its last 14 SEC regular-season series versus the Bulldogs, including a 2-1 series victory last season (April 29-May 1) in Baton Rouge. This will be the first time since March 22-24, 2019 that LSU will travel to Athens, when Georgia won two of three games over the Tigers.

Even though Georgia has had its struggles with inconsistency this season, nobody should take the Bulldogs lightly. Georgia has won a series against ranked opponents No. 19 Kentucky, No.2 Arkansas and No. 18 Tennessee. The Bulldogs’ series win against Arkansas was a complete sweep.

“We’re excited for this trip, we’re going to go to Athens to wrap up the regular season, and we want to finish it the right way,” said LSU head coach Jay Johnson. “We’re excited to get on the road – we have some work we need to continue to do. It will be a very business-oriented trip, but I think it will be good for us to be together and work on improving our team. Georgia has a very talented, veteran roster, and (UGA head coach) Scott Stricklin is an excellent coach, so we know we’ll be facing another tremendous challenge in the SEC.”

Players to watch out for on Georgia’s Pitching Staff

Georgia comes in with the second-worst ERA in the conference with a 6.41 ERA and has walked 249 batters, which is in the bottom five of the league. The Bulldogs’ pitching staff has also hit the most batters in the SEC with 75, something that will greatly benefit LSU as its batters have been hit by a pitch 113 times, which leads the SEC.

However, Georgia has struck out the second most batters looking in the conference with LSU being the only team ahead of them in that category.

All three of Georgia’s starters this weekend will be left-handers.

Freshman Jarvis Evans (2-0) will get the start on Thursday night. Thursday night’s game will only be Evans’ second start of the season. Evans has a 4.67 ERA with five walks and 21 strikeouts in 17.1 innings pitched.

Charlie Goldstein (3-1) will get the start on Friday. Goldstein has a 4.50 ERA with 15 walks and 45 strikeouts.

Liam Sullivan (4-2) will get the start on the mound on Saturday. Sullivan has a 5.83 ERA with 57 hits, 29 walks and a team-high 70 strikeouts.

Right-hander Dalton Rhadans (3-2) is tied for first in the league with appearances as he has pitched on the mound in 30 games this season. Rhadans, who has a funky sidearm delivery, has a 4.20 ERA with 13 walks, 38 strikeouts and two saves.

Right-hander Chandler Marsh (1-2) is second on the team in appearances with 21. Marsh has an ERA of 5.40 and has 41 punchouts. However, Marsh has had a hard time giving opposing batters a free pass to first base. Marsh has allowed 24 walks in 25 innings pitched.

Leighton Finley leads the team in saves with four. Although he has a 6.12 ERA and has allowed a batting average of .305, when Finley is hot, he’s hot. A good example of this was in game one of the Arkansas series on April 20, where he came in with the bases loaded with no outs and struck out the side to keep the Bulldogs in the lead late in that game. Finley has 28 strikeouts and nine walks in 25 innings pitched.

Players to watch out for in Georgia’s Batting Lineup

Although Georgia is in the middle of the pack when it comes to hitting as it is No. 7 in the SEC with a .289 team batting average, the Bulldogs have hit the fifth most home runs in the SEC with 94 home runs.

Redshirt freshman Charlie Condon has been Georgia’s most dangerous slugger all year long as he leads his team in home runs with 24, which is good for third in the country. Condon, who is on the Golden Spikes Award watch list, also leads his team in batting average and RBIs, batting .415 and plating 65 runners respectively.

Outfielder Connor Tate is another player to watch out for. The All-SEC performer is batting .390 on the year with 19 doubles, 15 homers and 53 RBIs.

Infielder Parks Harber has been stellar as well this season, batting .281 from the plate with 17 homers and 53 RBIs.

Infielder Mason LaPlante and centerfielder Ben Anderson are two more names to watch out for. Not only do they hit the ball well, but they are the top two stolen base leaders on the team with a combined 18 stolen bases on the year. LaPlante is 10-10 on stolen bases and Anderson has stolen eight bases on 10 attempts.