Georgia baseball earns fourth-best recruiting class distinction

Georgia baseball head coach Scott Stricklin will hope the 2017 is the turnaround his program needs.

Based on how regarded the incoming recruiting class is, he could very well have a chance to get over the hump and get back to the NCAA Tournament and possibly the College World Series.

Perfect Game USA tabbed Georgia as having the fourth-best recruiting class in the nation, behind only North Carolina, Ole Miss and Arizona State.

Each year, Georgia's classes have improved under Stricklin -- going from 26th, 22nd and now 4th in his three seasons.

“We’re excited about this group; they are a difference-making class,” Stricklin siad. “It’s deep at every position and features great baseball players and great athletes. We got through the pro draft and didn’t lose anyone this year. I feel like there are multiple early-impact players in this group.”

Included in the class are pitcher Justin Glover, shortstop Cam Shepherd and pitcher Zac Kristofak, all of whom decided to enroll at Georgia instead of heading to the MLB teams that drafted them.

Over the summer, the Bulldogs added five players to its recruiting class -- freshman outfielder/pitcher Tucker Bradley (Gordon Lee HS), freshman catcher Mason Meadows (Pope HS), junior college outfielder Will Campbell (Chattahoochee Valley CC), graduate transfer pitcher Shaefer Shepard (Catawba College) and left-handed pitcher Ryan Avidano (played with UGA in 2015).

Georgia finished 27-30 (11-19 SEC) in 2016 and haven't been to the NCAA Tournament since 2011.

Fall practice is scheduled to begin in September with the 56-game schedule announced later this year.

This story was originally published August 12, 2016 at 12:42 PM with the headline "Georgia baseball earns fourth-best recruiting class distinction."