The No. 22 Texas A&M baseball team will attempt to put itself over .500 in conference play on its first trip to Athens, taking on the Georgia Bulldogs in a three-game series Friday through Sunday.
A&M head coach Rob Childress’ recent adjustments to the weekend rotation will stand pat this weekend, featuring Daniel Mengden, Grayson Long and Tyler Stubblefield on the mound.
A&M’s SEC debut came last year against the Bulldogs, when the Aggies completed a three-game sweep that included 4-1, 11-4 and 2-1 victories, the last of which was won on a walk-off single by Krey Bratsen in the 10th inning.
First-year Georgia head coach Scott Stricklin fields a team with a .269 batting average. Offensive standouts in the Bulldog lineup include Hunter Cole, hitting .330 with 16 runs scored and 15 RBIs. Bulldog starters Nelson Ward and Connor Welton own the team’s only other averages over .300, at .310 and .305, respectively. Ward is the team leader in RBIs (18), runs (22) and stolen bases (8).
Georgia’s pitching staff has an ERA of 4.39 and is holding opposing batters to .274.
Cole Lankford, who accounted for three hits and three runs last year in the Georgia series, holds the team lead in batting average in conference games this year at .357. Lankford drove in the winning runs in two of the four walk-off victories for the Aggies this year.
Mengden, Friday’s probable starter, is third in the SEC in innings pitched with 41.2. His 46 strikeouts are good for second in the conference.
Saturday’s probable starter, Long, has a 1.13 ERA this year. He started his 2014 campaign pitching 21 scoreless innings and was recently moved to the Saturday spot in the rotation after starting the season as A&M’s Sunday starter.
Freshman lefty Stubblefield will get the nod for the second consecutive Sunday. In six career collegiate starts, he is 3-0 and owns a 1.84 ERA this season. He allowed two runs over six innings in his start Sunday against Florida.
After this weekend’s matchups against Georgia (14-11-1, 1-4-1 SEC), A&M (17-9, 3-3 SEC) returns home to host Houston at 6:35 p.m. Tuesday.