The Tigers take back to the diamond this weekend for the SEC home-opener against the Georgia Bulldogs. LSU (18-4) enters the weekend 1-2 in conference play, dropping a Saturday doubleheader to Vanderbilt then winning a midweek contest with South Alabama. Georgia (14-8) also enters the weekend with a 1-2 SEC record, falling twice on Saturday to Mississippi State and since beating Presbyterian College during the week. LSU has won 7 of the last 9 weekend series against UGA and leads the all-time series 60-22-2. Friday and Saturday night games will be televised by CST, and Sunday will be GeauxZone video only. We get to know the 2014 Bulldogs below.

Georgia Bulldogs
Record: 14-8
Conference: 1-2 SEC
Non-Conf: 13-6
Home: 14-6
Away: 0-2
Neutral: 0-0

Team Overview:
After parting ways with 12 year coach Dave Perno, the new Head Coach of the Georgia Bulldogs is Scott Strickland, who spent the previous 9 years at Kent State and lead the Golden Flashes to the College World Series in 2012. The first year head coach faces an uphill battle to rebuild the Bulldog Baseball team, which finished last in the SEC last season with just 7 conference wins. This is a team that returned several arms, none of whom were particularly effective last year and only a couple of whom have had any success worth mentioning in 22 games so far in 2014. The Georgia pitching staff as a whole has allowed more hits, runs, doubles and thrown more wild pitches than any other team in the SEC. The team ERA is a full point higher than the rest of the conference. They also lost their top offensive threat in All-SEC player Curt Powell. It will take Strickland a few years to get his guys in place, but there are signs of young talent on this club already surfacing. The Dawgs are definitely in rebuilding mode despite being just 6 years removed from the CWS championship series in 2008.

Quote from junior two-way player Jared Walsh on the trip to Baton Rouge – “It’s pretty unbelievable. You hear a lot of Garth Brooks when you’re there, so it makes it pretty fun. Ten thousand fans – it’s one of the best atmospheres in college baseball, so it’s something you really look forward to.”

Team Stat Comparison (LSU in parentheses)
Runs/game scored: 6.8 (6.8)
Runs/game allowed: 5.3 (2.1)

Team ERA: 4.23 (1.97)
Opponent ERA: 5.97 (5.65)

Team BA: .289 (.288)
Opponent BA: .270 (.216)

Team Fielding %: .968 (.978)
Opponent Fielding %: .951 (.956)

Notable wins: Georgia Tech (1-0)
Notable losses: Georgia has lost weekend series against Georgia Southern(1-2), Florida State(0-2), and Mississippi State(1-2).

Starting Pitching:
Friday night LSU sends out Aaron Nola. The Tigers have yet to drop a game this season when Nola toes the rubber, although he did not factor in the decision last Friday at Vanderbilt. Aaron tied a career high with 12 strikeouts last Friday. It will be important for Nola to set the tone for the rest of the staff this weekend, since hitting is the backbone of this Georgia club. The rotation for the Dawgs has been a trial and error process so far this season, but Coach Strickland seems to have settled on Lawlor, Tyler, and Boling as the three weekend guys. Friday night, Georgia sends out Sophomore Ryan Lawlor. The southpaw earned the win last Friday in the team’s only win over Mississippi State. Lawlor is a typical lefty in that he features a fastball in the mid-80’s as well as a solid curve and an average changeup.

Freshman Jared Poché will be making his first Saturday start for LSU. Poché suffered his first loss of the season on Sunday at Vanderbilt allowing 4 runs in 4.1 innings of work. He looks to bounce back this week and will be facing fellow freshman Robert Tyler. The right handed Tyler has worked his way into the weekend rotation with several solid outings, 3 starts and 3 relief appearances totaling a team-high 25.1 innings allowing just 16 hits. Tyler, 6’5-210 lbs, was drafted last summer in the 28th round by the Orioles and has the stuff to become the ace for UGA over the next couple of years. His fastball sits 92-94 and has gotten up to 96mph. A changeup is his next best pitch, and he has much success mixing it in with the fastball. He will also throw a slider around 80mph.

On Sunday, there will be a familiar face on the mound for LSU. Junior Cody Glenn, who spent most of the 2013 season at this position, will be getting the start due to an ongoing injury to Kyle Bouman. Georgia will counter also counter with a southpaw, Patrick Boling. The 5th year senior was drafted in the 32nd round after his RS-junior season, but elected to return to school to earn his Political Science degree and play out his career as a Bulldog. Boling’s fastball from the left side comes in around the upper 80’s and can get into the 90’s. He also throws a sliding curve in the upper-70’s and a changeup.

Friday's Pitching Matchup:
So. LHP Ryan Lawlor (2-1, 4.50 ERA, 24.0 IP, 24 H, 12 ER, 10 BB, 16 K, .267 OBA)
Jr. RHP Aaron Nola (4-0, 0.27 ERA, 33.2 IP, 17 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 48 K, .148 OBA)

Saturday's Pitching Matchup:
Fr. RHP Robert Tyler (1-1, 2.13 ERA, 25.1 IP, 16 H, 6 ER, 5 BB, 17 K, .172 OBA)
Fr. LHP Jared Poché (4-1, 2.22 ERA, 24.1 IP, 21 H, 6 ER, 7 BB, 18 K, .233 OBA)

Sunday's Pitching Matchup:
Sr. LHP Patrick Boling (2-2, 3.33 ERA, 24.1 IP, 27 H, 9 ER, 9 BB, 13 K, .287 OBA)
Jr. LHP Cody Glenn (1-1, 4.37 ERA, 22.2 IP, 29 H, 11 ER, 3 BB, 11 K, .333 OBA)

Relief Pitching:
Georgia returns their top 4 relievers from last season. Dylan Cole is once again a key arm from the pen, leading the team in appearances and a 2.79 ERA. Cole lead the team with 4 saves in 2013. David Sosebee has the most innings of work this year with 20.2 IP in 8 relief appearances and a 3.48 ERA. Jarret Brown is a lefty out of the pen that had an ERA under 3 last season with 3 saves, but has struggled out of the gate in 2014 with a .302 average against and a 4.85 ERA in 13 innings of work. Jared Cheek has 9 appearances and an outstanding .172 OBA in 17 innings of relief. Strickland will throw out any number of guys at any time just looking for the most effective pitcher to get the job done, short hooking anyone that isn’t.

continued in next post...