Well ladies and gents, here we go. A midweek game that always seems to be a good, fun game between two old rivals, Clemson and Georgia.
Clemson won their series with a gritty Louisville team. Could they have scored with runners in scoring position on Sunday, it would have likely been a sweep. But we will never know for sure.
It was a great series for adversity, like Coach Bakich preaches weekly to the media. Ace Aidan Knaak was not at his best on Friday night, and the Tigers were able to fight out a win. Sophomore Drew Titsworth got his first start of his career and whipped up a gem on Saturday for another close victory.
Winning 2 of 3 on any given weekend is absolutely considered a success. Just ask Georgia, who was swept by Vanderbilt over the weekend.
Tuesday night’s game will be at 8PM at Doug Kingsmore Stadium and will be broadcast on ESPNU.
Georgia comes into the series at 33-8, 10-7 in the Southeastern Conference and ranked as highly as #5 by Perfect Game.
All Time Record:
Clemson and the Bulldogs have played 143 times all time, including that game last year where Jarren Purify was robbed of an obvious homerun. The Dawgs lead the all-time series 130-111-2.
Here is your preview of Clemson’s mid-week game against the Georgia Bulldogs.
Clemson Briefly:
Clemson enters the midweek with 35 wins and 7 losses. 13-5 in the ACC.
The Tigers are hitting .277 as a team through 42 games (153rd nationally).
As a team, the Tigers have 66 doubles (T-173rd), 6 triples (T-182nd) and 49 home runs (T-73rd).
On the mound, the Tigers pitching staff touts a 4.43 ERA (36th nationally). The staff has struck out 406 batters over 336 innings for an average of 10 per 9 innings (26th) and walked 156 through 42 games or 3.8 per 9 innings.
Opponents are (still) hitting .227 against the Tigers pitching staff.
Here is a look at the Georgia Bulldogs:
Georgia Bulldogs
Head Coach – Wes Johnson (2nd Season)
2025 Record: 33-9 (10-8 SEC)
Wins: Quinnipiac x2, UNC-Wilmington, Kennesaw State, Illinois-Chicago x4, Georgia State x2, Florida Gulf Coast x4, High Point, Columbia x3, East Tennessee State, Kentucky x2, Florida x3, West Georgia, Auburn x3, Queens, Presbyterian, Arkansas x2, Georgia Tech
Losses: UNC-Wilmington, Kentucky, Texas x3, Arkansas, Vanderbilt x3
Not the greatest out of conference/midweek slate of games for a team in the SEC, but Georgia has taken care of business, for the most part, in those games.
Here are the probable starting lineup, plus some extras for Georgia and their 2025 stats:
Position Players
| Name (#) | Year | Position | 2025 Stats |
| Slate Alford (44) | Sr. | 3B | .333; 11 2B, 3B, 12 HR, 44 RBI |
| Kolby Branch (9) | Jr. | SS | .306; 6 2B, 8 HR, 24 RBI; 6-6 SB |
| Christian Adams (5) | Grad. | 2B | .293; 6 2B, 4 HR, 16 RBI |
| Ryland Zabrowski (20) | Grad. | 1B | .398; 9 2B, 16 HR, 55 RBI |
| Nolan McCarthy (19) | Grad. | LF | .285; 7 2B, 3B, 8 HR, 33 RBI; 7-9 SB |
| Robbie Burnett (10) | Sr. | RF | .341; 10 2B, 3B, 17 HR, 55 RBI; 12-15 SB |
| Tre Phelps (1) | Soph. | DH | .272; 7 2B, 5 HR, 27 RBI |
| Devin Obee (21) | Sr. | CF | .269; 4 2B, 10 HR, 33 RBI; 10-11 SB |
| Henry Hunter (11) | Sr. | C | .235; 7 2B, 7 HR, 20 RBI |
Offensively, the Bulldogs are led by the long ball. Georgia leads the nation with 105 homeruns as a team. Four of the regular nine have double-digit home runs. Senior outfielder Robbie Burnett leads the hard-hitting Dawgs with 17. Grad 1st Baseman Ryland Zabrowski has hit 16, Senior 3rd Baseman Slate Alford has 12 and Senior outfielder Devin Obee is right at 10.
Zabrowski is hitting .398 and has an OPS (on-base plus slugging %) of 1.408. Anything over 1.00 is incredible. Georgia has 4 of their top hitters all above 1. This team can mash.
Burnett is probably the offensive MVP for the Dawgs through the 42 games with those 17 long balls, 55 runs batted in, and leads the team in stolen bases, 12 swipes in 15 attempts.
Georgia is hitting .299 as a team (62nd nationally). They have hit 79 doubles (T-71st), 4 triples (T-250th) and 105 home runs as a team (1st).
As a team, Georgia is 50-56 in the stolen base department, tied for 120th most. \
Assumptions: Pitching Possibilities for Georgia:
| NAME (#) | Year | Hand | 2025 Stats |
| JT Quinn (22) | Jr. | RHP | 0-1; 2.37 ERA, 11 App, 19 IP, 23 K, 11 BB; OppBA: .159 |
| Zach Harris (3) | Jr. | RHP | 2-0; 4.58 ERA, 11 App, 17.2 IP, 13 K, 8 BB; OppBA: .238 |
| Matthew Hoskins (15) | Jr. | RHP | 1-1; 3.38 ERA, 13 App, 21.1 IP, 32 K, 18 BB; OppBA: .189 |
The Georgia pitching staff touts a 4.97 staff ERA (74th nationally), having struck out 442 opponent hitters for an average of 11 per 9 innings (10th) while walking 191 or 4.7 per 9 innings. They have given up 51 home runs as a staff through 42 games. Opponents are hitting .230 against the Dawgs pitching staff.
As of Monday evening, no starters have been announced for either team, a common theme recently. One could deduce that Clemson will throw Freshman Talan Bell, who’s seemingly cemented himself as the midweek starter for the Tigers.
Summary
Coach Wes McDonald, the pitching guru, that came to Athens after leading LSU to a national championship had immediate success in year one. The Dawgs could really hit a season ago, and they have continued that trend in 2025.
The pitching staff is ok, overall. But you would think with the brains behind LSU’s success on the mound that the Dawgs strength would be on the mound. It has not been that way through a season plus for Coach Johnson.
This is a really good Georgia team and this is very well a matchup that we could see in a Super Regional in June. Midweek games do not give you the full story between two teams. This was a hotly contested one-run game last season (a low scoring one at that). I would expect Tuesday night’s game to be a fun one as well.
The two teams do have just two common opponents so far this season: Georgia Tech and Presbyterian. Clemson is 4-1 in those games while Georgia is 2-0 against the same opponents.
This rivalry needs more love on the diamond. Hoping Tuesday night’s game delivers the fun!
***Statistics Graphics credit: Marty Coleman***
