ATHENS------The University of Georgia's 2004 baseball schedule features 33 home games at Foley Field, one versus Georgia Tech at Turner Field and an exhibition against the Atlanta Braves at their spring training complex in Florida.

The Bulldogs open their season Feb. 13 with a five-game homestand. Georgia's first road trip will be Feb. 21 when it travels to Statesboro, Ga., for a two-game series with Georgia Southern. Overall, the Bulldogs 56-game schedule features 31 games versus teams that advanced to NCAA Regionals.

The Southeastern Conference teams coming to Athens in 2004 will be Alabama, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Kentucky and College World Series participant South Carolina. The Bulldogs have Atlantic Coast Conference foes Georgia Tech (March 24) and Clemson (March 30) on the home schedule too. Georgia will have a home-and-home series with the Tigers and Yellow Jackets. For the second year in a row, the final game of the Georgia Tech series will be at Turner Field, home of the Atlanta Braves. The series finale will be Tuesday night, May 11. For the eighth time in school history, Georgia will battle the Atlanta Braves in an exhibition in Orlando, Fla.

"We have a very challenging schedule with some of the top teams in the country coming to Foley Field," said Georgia coach David Perno. "We're thrilled about the opportunity to play at Turner Field again against Georgia Tech. Also, the game with the Atlanta Braves during Spring Training is always a memorable day for the Bulldogs."

Georgia opens the SEC season at home from March 19-21 with a three-game series with Alabama. Georgia's SEC road series will be at Vanderbilt, Florida, LSU, Mississippi State and Auburn. SEC-TV will broadcast Kentucky at Georgia (May 1, 4 p.m. ET) and Georgia at Auburn (May 15, 4 p.m. ET).

The Bulldogs enter the 2004 campaign looking to return to the postseason. Perno is entering his third season at the helm of the Bulldog program. He became the first coach in school history to take his first team to the NCAA Regionals when he did it in 2002 but Georgia fell short last season. Pitching and defense look to be the strengths of the 2004 Bulldogs. There will be a lot of new faces in the batting order after four hitters off the 2003 team signed professional contracts. Recently, Georgia's 2003 recruiting class was rated the 10th best in the country by Baseball America, and this group includes a number of excellent hitting prospects.

Georgia baseball season ticket packages, which will include the game at Turner Field, will go on sale in December.

2004 GEORGIA BASEBALL SCHEDULE