‘Reset’ Georgia pitching staff has questions to answer in final pre-SEC game

East Tennessee State trails only Tennessee and Georgia for the most home runs in Division I. The Buccaneers have homered 37 times in 15 games, while the Bulldogs have 45 homers in 19 games.

The Southern Conference member also is coming off a weekend series win over Pittsburgh. ETSU is 2-2 against Power 4 teams this season, averaging six runs over those four games.

The Bulldogs allowed eight runs per game in their five outings last week, but Johnson gave reason to believe things could be better Tuesday.

Johnson will be able to fully reorder his staff this week for the first time this season. Georgia played 19 games through the first four weeks of the season — good for the most in the country — which limited rest days and kept pitchers working on similar schedules every week.

The long games — including a five-game road stretch to start the season — certainly took its toll on Georgia’s pitching staff. But Johnson, heralded for his extensive pitching wisdom, believes the early tests will reap benefits.

“It’s good though to see the guys have to persevere, have to fight, have to continue to stay locked in,” Johnson said, evaluating how his pitchers have weathered the busy schedule.

Johnson said he is getting what he wants from his staff’s depth, a point of strength for Georgia. The former MLB pitching coach talked before the season about experimenting with his bullpen early and testing pitchers in different roles.

The recoveries of starters Kolten Smith and Charlie Goldstein have created more opportunities for experimenting to this point.

Smith was hindered by a back issue and then an illness, but Johnson said he is on the way back to taking a weekend starter role. Goldstein is recovering from an elbow surgery and has pitched a couple of innings to open games in every weekend series.

The Wildcats and the mighty SEC loom just three days away, and Johnson seems to have as complete of a plan in place as possible, given the circumstances.

“We’re starting to really narrow in, it’s going to be good, you started to see at times, some resetting this weekend,” Johnson said Sunday. “We’ll be fully resetted for next weekend. We’ll get a lot of guys in the game on Tuesday, just to keep them sharp and throw one inning.”

Georgia will continue to lean on its bats, much like it did last season, at least until health and roles stabilize. That’s not the worst scenario for a team that has hit the second most home runs in the country and leads the SEC in hits.

Reigning co-SEC Player of the Week Ryland Zaborowski will be looking for his fifth consecutive game with a home run this week. Other seasoned hitters like Robbie Burnett, Tre Phelps, Slate and Slate Alford will keep knocking runs in while Georgia’s pitching works to figure itself out.

The Bulldogs and Buccaneers will play at 3 p.m. Tuesday at Foley Field. Georgia will finish an 18-game homestand against Kentucky on Sunday before visiting No. 7 Florida.