Scott Stricklin went with what his gut told him.
Usually when his team finishes a series on a Saturday, Georgia’s head coach gives them Sunday off and then it’s back to practice on Monday. But after the Bulldogs lost last weekend’s series to SEC cellar dweller Auburn, he felt his players needed more than just one day. For the first time, he gave his players Monday off as well.
“I think we needed to reset,” Stricklin said. “I just felt like this time of year that these guys needed a couple of days off to just reset the mind, reset the body.”
Without a midweek game this week, it’ll be six days between games by the time this weekend’s set at No. 1 Arkansas gets going. After some much-needed rest, Georgia will look to regain its form.
The Bulldogs had been playing fairly well heading into Auburn, winning three straight league series. That streak started with a victory over another top-ranked team when Georgia took two out of three from No. 1 Vanderbilt in Nashville.
“I think the biggest thing that we learned going to Nashville and winning that series is that we’re a darn good baseball team when we do things the right way,” Stricklin said. “I think that’s the case with every team. When you swing the bats well and you play defense and you pitch, you’re pretty darn good.”
Lately, though, Stricklin has noticed more and more aspects of the game not being done the right way. Bunting, moving runners over, throwing strikes, good defense - all things that lead to good results that have been eluding the Bulldogs as of late.
As a result, Georgia has lost three of its last four. That includes dropping a home series to Auburn, which entered last weekend 3-15 in SEC play.
That set included an emotional 14-inning loss in game two. That, along with impending final exams which started on Wednesday, helped Stricklin decide to give the team Sunday and Monday off.
Players could choose to report Monday for an optional lifting session, and many did. Others, like center fielder Ben Anderson, took the day to rest and recover.
“We’re 40 games into the season, so any days off, any days you can rest your body, get prepared for the weekend, we try to make the most of,” Anderson said. “Get in the training room, take care of all the aches and bruises you get throughout the long season.”
In practice since then, Stricklin said the team has worked on some of those little things that have been troublesome of late. Georgia planned to scrimmage Wednesday before flying to Fayetteville Thursday afternoon.
Once in Arkansas, the Bulldogs will face a team they are very similar to despite the Razorbacks’ lofty ranking.
“They’re hitting .263 in the league and we’re hitting .266,” Stricklin said. “We’ve hit 38 doubles and they’ve hit 25. They’ve hit 30 home runs, we’ve hit 26. Our slugging percentage is exactly the same, we’re both slugging .434. Their ERA is 4.88, our ERA is 4.99. It’s kind of eerie how similar we are.”
The last time a reeling Georgia team went on the road to face the top team in the nation, it took the series from Vanderbilt. Stricklin knows if his team plays to its potential, it can happen again.
The key will be executing and playing clean baseball on both sides. The defense and pitching can’t give away free bases, while the offense has to get runners over and in when it has the chance.
Those aspects of the game will be crucial over these next few weeks. After Arkansas, Georgia goes on the road to Florida before finishing the schedule at home against Ole Miss. All games are crucial for the Bulldogs’ NCAA Tournament resume at this point, but especially these nine against some of the top teams in the country.
“We talk about it,” Stricklin said. “We talk about the RPI, we talk about the postseason. They know what’s at stake.”
With a week off, Georgia has been given a chance to reset. Now, it launches into a three-week stretch that can make or break this 2021 season.