SEC opponent preview: Georgia

The Bat Cats Central SEC opponent preview begins with the Georgia Bulldogs. Kentucky travels to Athens for its first SEC series on March 14. Bat Cats Central will preview each SEC opponent and in-state rival Louisville over the coming weeks.

Quick hitters

• Head coach: Wes Johnson (43-17 at Georgia)
• Assistant coaches: Will Coggin (assistant head coach/hitting), Brock Bennett (recruiting coordinator), Nick Ammirati (assistant coach)
• All-time series: Georgia leads the all-time series against Kentucky 142-106-1.
• Most recent series meeting: Kentucky swept Georgia in Lexington to begin SEC play, outscoring the Bulldogs 37-15 in 25 innings. Kentucky won 12-2 in seven innings to complete the sweep.

2024 review

Following a disappointing 29-27 season in 2023, Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks fired Scott Stricklin after 10 seasons. Stricklin had modest success during his tenure, leading the Bulldogs to the NCAA Tournament in 2018, 2019 and 2022, though he never advanced out of the regional round. For a program whose theoretical advantages (a southern state loaded with high school baseball talent) have always looked great on paper, Georgia failed to meet its potential under Stricklin.

Brooks chose Wes Johnson to turn the program around. Johnson was the pitching coach for LSU’s national championship team in 2023 and was a pitching coach in the SEC at Mississippi State (he overlapped with Kentucky coach Nick Mingione in 2016) and Arkansas in 2018 and 2019 before becoming the pitching coach for the Minnesota Twins. Johnson immediately produced the best first-year season of any coach in school history, leading the Bulldogs to a 43-win season and their first Super Regional since 2008. The season ended in the super regional against NC State, but Johnson had produced the best first-year season of any coach in Georgia history.