HawgBeat - Scouting Report: Arkansas at Georgia series preview, prediction
HawgBeat’s quick scouting report on the Georgia Bulldogs, whom the Razorbacks will visit this weekend.
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Leading the SEC West by a game and a half, the Diamond Hogs have an opportunity to pad that advantage this week when they visit Foley Field in Athens, Georgia.
The Bulldogs, who enter the series 4-11 in conference play, have won three of their last five league games, including a doubleheader sweep of Kentucky in Athens two weeks ago.
“They’ve done nothing but hit and score runs, hit home runs,” Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn said Tuesday.
The Razorback skipper did not miss the mark by much with that comment. Georgia ranks sixth in the SEC in hits and home runs, but there is not much else going on, statistically speaking. It has drawn the fewest walks in the conference, and it is one of six teams with an on-base percentage under .400.
Leading the charge offensively is freshman phenom Charlie Condon, who boasts a 1.366 on-base-plus-slugging percentage in 15 conference games.
Florida's Jac Caglianone and South Carolina's Ethan Petry are the only two SEC players who have hit more home runs than Condon's 17 in all games, and his .902 slugging percentage leads the league.
Joining Condon in the heart of the Georgia order are infielders Will David and Parks Harber, both of whom are hitting above .300 in at least 12 SEC starts. Neither player is a big power hitter, but the latter's six doubles and four homers in league play tie him for the team lead in extra-base hits.
Also with 10 extra-baggers in SEC games is outfielder Connor Tate, who is hitting just .222 but has an OPS north of .800.
While the Bulldogs boast a handful of batters with solid numbers, the same is untrue on the mound.
Left-hander Jaden Woods made five conference starts with a 7.36 ERA before being yanked from the rotation this week. Righty Kolten Smith, whose one SEC start came a month ago and lasted 3 1/3 innings, will get the nod Thursday.
Fortunately for the Razorbacks, who are hitting 38 points higher against lefties than righties, they will still get to face two southpaws in Charlie Goldstein and Liam Sullivan.
Goldstein has started each of the past three weeks, holding three ranked opponents to a combined three earned runs. During that stretch against Vanderbilt, Kentucky and Florida, he is rocking a 1.84 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP.
Sullivan will get the ball Saturday afternoon as he attempts to shrink his 7.71 ERA through five appearances in league play. He is averaging just over four innings per start in those games, and opponents are hitting .333 against him.
"You look at their record in league, now it’s the second half, you’ve got to turn the page," Van Horn said. "I’m sure that’s what they’re talking about, but we’ve just got to go in there and do what we do and just give ourselves an opportunity to get late in the game and have a chance to win."
The series is set to begin at 6 p.m. CT Thursday on the SEC Network, continue at 5 p.m. Friday and wrap up at 1 p.m Sunday. All three games will stream live in the ESPN app.
Prediction
The Razorbacks are probably talented enough to win all three games of the series, but the safe route here is to say they win two games to one.
Although he is still in year one in the SEC, Hunter Hollan's starting experience far outweighs that of Smith, so count on Arkansas having two chances to win the series.
If Georgia were to pull out a win, it would come Friday. If Vanderbilt, Kentucky and Florida had trouble producing against Goldstein, Arkansas could easily find itself on that list too.
Saturday, however, should belong to the Razorbacks. Although Sullivan has pitched well against them in the past, he is on a streak too cold to silence them and win a rubber match.
So mark me down for two out of three, but a sweep is certainly not out of the question.
