Baseball Preview: Clemson vs Georgia

Who: #10 Georgia (23-9) vs. #3 Clemson (25-7)
When: 6:30pm Tuesday 4/10/18
Where: SRP Park, North Augusta, SC
Listen: TigerCast, Clemson Tigers Radio Network

The Tigers and Dawgs both travel to Augusta Tuesday night for a matchup in the brand new home of the Augusta Green Jackets, SRP Park. The 4,822 seat ballpark sold out within hours of tickets becoming available, so it is sure to be an electric atmosphere. It will be the second game played in the ballpark, as North Augusta High School played the first game there on Monday night. This will be the first of two midweek games the two teams will play within the next week, with Clemson being designated the home team. Georgia leads the all time series 122-108-2.

The Tigers, coming off of a series win in Notre Dame, will send Spencer Strider to the mound for his 2nd consecutive midweek start. The freshman RHP is coming off of a dominating performance last week vs Coastal Carolina, where he went 6.2 IP, giving up a run on only 2 hits, while striking out 7, and taking a no hitter into the 7th. He seems to be coming into his own over the past couple of weeks. Overall he is 3-0 with a 4.13 ERA and has 36 Ks giving him an impressive 13.5 K/9.

The Notre Dame series also gave us the much anticipated debut of freshman CF Kier Meredith. He went 4-10 with a triple, a HR, 3 stolen bases, and a .571 OBP. His speed brings a whole new dynamic to the lineup and gives it the true leadoff hitter it has been lacking all season (for many seasons actually). It allows Davidson and Beer to drop down a spot in the order, to spots for which they are more suited. Davidson has been admirable in that leadoff spot, we could see an uptick in production with him moving to the 2 hole. Either way, a healthy Meredith leading off is a very good thing for this team.

Clemson is only hitting .248 as a team, but has .371 OBP, and is averaging 6 runs a game. When they reach that magic number of 6 runs, the Tigers have yet to lose this season. The pitching staff has a team ERA of 3.14 and a 2.33 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

The Dawgs, coming off of a series loss at Vandy, are led by 5th year head coach Scott Stricklin. They will send RHP Tony Locey to the mound, for his 5th start of the season. The sophmore is 6-0 with a 3.07 ERA on the season, with 30 Ks in 29.1 IP. They are hitting .287 as a team and have a team ERA of 3.54. Two guys to keep an eye on are senior OF Keegan McGovern and junior OF Michael Curry. McGovern is hitting .364 with 10 HR and 32 RBI, as well as a eye popping OBP of .493. Curry is hitting .339 with 6 HR and 33 RBI. His OBP is .409 and SLG is .529.

This is a much improved Georgia team compared to recent years, so it should be a good one, along with a great crowd on hand. Check back with STS afterwards for a full recap