{"id":225897,"date":"2026-04-10T05:31:40","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T05:31:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/225897\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T05:31:40","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T05:31:40","slug":"sec-leading-no-4-georgia-faces-no-21-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/225897\/","title":{"rendered":"SEC-Leading No. 4 Georgia Faces No. 21 Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"

ATHENS, GA.—–Fourth-ranked and SEC-leading Georgia returns to action Friday against No. 21 Florida. First pitch will be at 6 p.m. ET and be available on SECN+ and the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network.
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\nGame two of the series will be Saturday at noon ET (ESPN2) and Sunday’s action begins at noon ET (SECN).
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\nGeorgia (28-6, 10-2 SEC), ranked a consensus No. 4 in the national polls this week, is riding a season-long eight-game winning streak. The Gators (25-9, 7-5) feature one of the league’s best pitching staffs and just completed a season series sweep of No. 5 Florida State Tuesday. Last weekend in the SEC, UF dropped a home series to Ole Miss after the Rebels rallied for five runs in the ninth of the rubber game to win 5-2. UF leads the Georgia series 193-105-2 dating to 1931. In the Wes Johnson<\/a> era, Georgia is 4-2 against the Gators including a three-game sweep in Gainesville last year.\u00a0
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\nGeorgia Leads Nation In Home Runs And SEC In Batting Average
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0*Georgia has an NCAA-leading 98 Home Runs and .646 SLG Percentage plus ranks third nationally in Runs Scored (338), fifth in Scoring (9.9 runs per game), OB Percentage\u00a0(.455) and Batting Average (.329) and sixth in Fielding Percentage\u00a0(.984),\u00a0\u00a0UF is batting .272 with 42 home runs, averages 6.9 runs per game and is fielding .969.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0*Georgia junior C Daniel Jackson<\/a> ranks sixth nationally with a team-high 16 home runs (including three grand slams) followed by junior 3B Tre Phelps<\/a> with 14, senior SS Kolby Branch<\/a> is next with 13 and senior 1B\/C Brennan Hudson<\/a> has 12. Branch ranks tied for seventh in Georgia history with 43 home runs and has 49 for his career counting the six he had for Baylor in 2023. Also, he has six career grand slams for the Bulldogs, one shy of the school record held by catcher Roger Miller (1986-89).
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\nGeorgia-UF Pitching Rotation\u00a0
\nGame 1: Joey Volchko<\/a> (6-0, 3.89 ERA), RHP, Jr., vs. Aidan King (4-2, 1.62 ERA), RHP, So.\u00a0
\nGame 2: Dylan Vigue<\/a> (3-1, 2.83 ERA), RHP, Jr.,\u00a0\u00a0vs. Liam Peterson (1-2, 4.03 ERA), RHP, Jr.
\nGame 3: TBA vs. Russell Sandefer (2-1, 3.00 ERA), RHP, Jr.
\n*The Bulldogs have a 4.36 ERA with 362 strikeouts and 138 walks. Opponents are hitting .233.
\n*UF has a 3.70 ERA with 384 strikeouts and 121 walks. Opponents are hitting .222.\u00a0
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\nBullpen Stalwarts: Aoki, Byrd, Farley and Scott
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0*Georgia’s quartet of graduate Caden Aoki<\/a>, redshirt junior Justin Byrd<\/a>, redshirt sophomore Paul Farley<\/a> and senior Matt Scott<\/a> are the backbone of the bullpen. They are a combined 8-1 with a 2.98 ERA and eight saves in 36 relief appearances over a span of 84.2 IP.\u00a0
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\nPhelps & Jackson Named To Midseason Watch Lists
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0*Junior 3B Tre Phelps<\/a> (.413-14-39) is the SEC batting leader and Co-SEC Player of the Week. He leads the nation in Hit-By-Pitches (20) and is fourth in Runs Scored (48). Last weekend at #5 MSU, he batted .333 (5-for-15) with a home run, five RBI and tremendous defense. This past Tuesday, he went 1-for-2 with his first career grand slam in the win over Presbyterian. Phelps has been named to the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0*Junior C Daniel Jackson<\/a> (.408-16-49, 17 SB) ranks in the top 10 nationally in Home Runs, SLG% (.846), RBI (49) and Total Bases (110). Recently, he was named to the Midseason Watch Lists for the Buster Posey Collegiate Catcher of the Year and the Golden Spikes Award.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0*Phelps and Jackson each have eight-game hitting streaks. Earlier this year, Jackson had a team-best 21-game streak while Phelps carried one over from last year that stretched to 27, one game shy of the school record.
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\nLujo Making An Impact
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0*Sophomore OF\/INF Rylan Lujo<\/a> (.375-5-22) is putting together quite a year as he ranks third in batting (fifth in the SEC) behind the Golden Spikes Watch List duo of Tre Phelps<\/a> and Daniel Jackson<\/a>. In the road sweep of #5 MSU, Lujo led the starters with a .417 (5-for-12) batting average plus collected two doubles, a home run and five RBI. He started all three games in centerfield and registered five putouts including snagging a potential home run ball in a 5-5 game Saturday that Georgia would go on to win 8-5 in 10 innings. Overall, Lujo has played in 26 games with 21 starts<\/p>\n

They Said It

\nIke Cousins Head Baseball Coach Wes Johnson<\/a>

\nOn the bullpen success and potential Sunday starter\u2026

\n“The beauty of the bullpen is the fact that all of those guys have started in their career and have done it as late as January or even earlier in the season. We’re going to try to win those first two games and use whoever we need to try to win those. When the dust settles, we’re going to look at Sunday.”

\n\u00a0

\nOn going up against Florida’s pitchers\u2026

\n“I just finished breaking down their pitchers’ arms. Their starters are really good, and you’ve got to get to them early. It’s going to be a fight. So if we get the chance to get to one of their starters, we’re going to do that.”

\n\u00a0

\nOn competing as the fourth-ranked team in the country…

\n“I hope our guys come out more focused. We had a good weekend on the road, and that’s good. You draw a lot from that, and we’re able to talk about all the positives and the things we need to get better at. We also have six series left, and they can turn around really fast.”

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\n#9 Kolby Branch<\/a> | SS | Sr.

\nOn the team’s approach to the weekend following success in SEC play\u2026

\n“We’ve got to play one game at a time. With Florida coming to town this weekend, we approach it the same way as any other game. We don’t look at the series. We play each game one at a time.”

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\n#5 Justin Byrd<\/a> | RHP | R-Jr.\u00a0

\nOn the\u00a0Georgia\u00a0bullpen\u2026

\n“At this point, I don’t think it matters who goes out there. (Coach Wes Johnson<\/a>) knows that we are going give it our all and go out there with a bunch of confidence. Even on the offensive side, they are going to go out there and put up a bunch of runs, so that gives us even more confidence.”\u00a0

\n\u00a0<\/p>\n

Links To Follow The Bulldog Series

\nFriday @ 6 p.m. ET

\nRadio\/TV:\u00a0960TheRef (Jeff Dantzler & David Johnston):\u00a0https:\/\/georgiadogs.com\/watch\/?Live=4988<\/a>

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\nSECN+ (Matt Stewart & Jason Jacobs):\u00a0https:\/\/www.espn.com\/watch\/player\/_\/id\/0bc5a118-68bd-4330-9071-a0520c66747d<\/a>

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\nLive Stats:\u00a0https:\/\/stats.statbroadcast.com\/broadcast\/?id=631900<\/a>

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Saturday @ Noon ET

\nRadio:\u00a0960TheRef (Jeff Dantzler & David Johnston):\u00a0https:\/\/georgiadogs.com\/watch\/?Live=4989&type=Live<\/a>

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\nESPN2 (Dave Neal & Lance Cormier):\u00a0https:\/\/www.espn.com\/watch\/player\/_\/id\/e149626c-7373-453c-aaa6-a2f4d3bb687f<\/a>

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\nLive Stats:\u00a0http:\/\/stats.statbroadcast.com\/broadcast\/?id=631901<\/a>

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\nSunday @ Noon ET

\nRadio:\u00a0960TheRef (Jeff Dantzler & David Johnston):\u00a0https:\/\/georgiadogs.com\/watch\/?Live=4990&type=Live<\/a>

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\nSECN (Dave Neal & Lance Cormier):\u00a0https:\/\/www.espn.com\/watch\/player\/_\/id\/611a7ffa-17a9-4246-b431-fe8e2ac7455b<\/a>

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\nLive Stats:\u00a0http:\/\/stats.statbroadcast.com\/broadcast\/?id=631902<\/a>

\n\u00a0<\/p>\n

Foley Field In 2026

\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Foley Field Gates Open 1 hour before first pitch\u00a0

\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Tickets \u2013Limited Availability; Also Available on SeatGeek:\u00a0https:\/\/seatgeek.com\/georgia-bulldogs-baseball-tickets<\/a>

\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0UGA STUDENTS:\u00a0\u00a0Free Admission and please enter at 3rd\u00a0Base Gate

\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Promotions For UF Series:\u00a0

\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Friday: A Georgia ’47 hat\u00a0to the first 500 students; First 200 students receive Papa John’s pizza

\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Saturday: A “Foley Fairways” to the first 1,000 fans; First 150 students receive a Texas Roadhouse cheeseburger

\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Sunday: A Kyle Farmer shirsey to the first 1,000 fans; Pregame: Anthem Buddies; Postgame: Kids Run The Bases<\/p>\n

FOLLOW THE BULLDOGS: For the latest\u00a0Georgia\u00a0baseball\u00a0news, visit\u00a0www.georgiadogs.com<\/a>\u00a0and follow the Bulldogs on X (@BaseballUGA), Facebook (@GeorgiaBaseball) and Instagram (@baseballuga).

\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ATHENS, GA.—–Fourth-ranked and SEC-leading Georgia returns to action Friday against No. 21 Florida. First pitch will be at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":225898,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-225897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225897\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/225898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}