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Georgia Baseball Receives Top 5 Ranking in Preseason Poll

Coming off of a season that saw the UGA fall one game shy of a Super Regional, Georgia is ranked 5th in the D1Baseball Preseason Top 25.

After coming off of a season that saw the Diamond Dawgs fall one game shy of a Super Regional, Georgia is ranked in the top 5 in the D1Baseball Preseason Top 25 Poll.

There is good reason to be excited about Georgia baseball in 2020. Any time that a team has an ace pitcher like Emerson Hancock to hand the ball to once every weekend, the confidence factor goes up. Hancock, a 6'4" Junior out of Cairo, Georgia, dazzled on the mound last year to the tune of a 1.99 ERA in 90 and one-third innings pitched, with an 8 - 3 record to show for his efforts. Emerson was named to the Perfect Game Preseason First Team All-American earlier this month.

Georgia returns two other experienced starting pitchers in 6'5" Sophomore Cole Wilcox and lefty Junior C.J. Smith. Wilcox and Smith posted a 4.07 and a 4.30 ERA respectively in 2019 and combined for a 6 - 5 record in 15 starts with 105 and two-thirds innings pitched.

Two of the biggest voids that will have to be filled for Georgia in 2020 were both left the Colorado Rockies 2019 second-round draft pick, Aaron Schunk. Schunk, who was awarded the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award last season, was an excellent fielding and hitting third baseman and a reliable closer for the Dawgs with 12 saves in 17 appearances and a 2.49 ERA.

Early on it would seem like Justin Glover and Ryan Webb would be in line to pick up the slack for the Dawgs in the bullpen, but that's only part of the equation. Schunk was also the 3-hole hitter for the Bulldogs in 2019 and was their leader in all triple crown categories with an average of .339, 15 home runs, and 58 RBI.

Riley King vs. Georgia Tech at SunTrust Park

Riley King vs. Georgia Tech at SunTrust Park

Redshirt Junior Riley King would be a strong option to fill the third spot in the lineup for Coach Scott Stricklin. King batted .295 on the season and displayed good power numbers with a slugging percentage of .440, 9 doubles, 1 triple and 8 home runs. The Lawrenceville native showed the ability to produce runs at a nice clip last season as well with 43 RBI, good for third-most on the team.

Georgia opens up the 2020 campaign at home versus the University of Richmond Spiders one month from today in Athens. It'll be exciting to see this Georgia team begin its mission to live up to its high expectations and to improve upon its early tournament exit a year ago.