Because Georgia beat Auburn yesterday afternoon and Vanderbilt beat South Carolina last night, the Diamond Dogs will face the No. 1-ranked defending national champion Gamecocks in the SEC Baseball Tournament approximately at 7:00 tonight. The winner of this evening’s contest will advance to face No. 3 Florida tomorrow in the early afternoon outing, and, if that team defeats the Gators, it will earn for its troubles a rematch with the Sunshine State Saurians on Saturday night.
A team must finish at least one game over .500 to qualify for the NCAA Baseball Tournament. Yesterday’s victory left the Bulldogs with a 29-29 record, which means the Red and Black must win their game today and (provided they clear this evening’s hurdle) they must win the first game tomorrow in order to be eligible for the national postseason field. (Since Georgia’s next loss will be its 30th of the season, the team must get to 31 wins to finish with a winning record.)
Obviously, the Bulldogs’ chances of beating two of the top three teams in the country in consecutive contests are not good. If eligible, though, the Classic City Canines likely would make the tourney, even with their middling record, because their top-ranked strength of schedule gives them a national No. 22 RPI.
Counting Wednesday’s embarrassing loss to the Commies, the Diamond Dogs have played an SEC-high 31 games against ranked opponents, winning a league-leading 14 of them. Here’s hoping the Athenians make it 15 tonight.
Go ‘Dawgs!