Giving up a home run in the ninth inning of a tied game would be a major blow to the confidence of most freshman pitchers.But for LSU freshman Matty Ott, the solo home run he allowed on March 11 in the final inning of LSU’s 10-9 loss to Louisiana-Lafayette did something else — it showed his coaches he could be a full-time closer in the Southeastern Conference.”I knew he had what it took to be a special player when he fired down the next three hitters in a row after giving up that homer,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “That showed me he hadn’t lost his confidence and that he trusted his stuff enough to get some big time outs.”Ott has proven his coach right since that outing and has been scoreless in seven of his past eight outings and recorded five saves to establish himself as the Tigers’ closer.LSU hopes Ott’s dominant streak continues this weekend when the No. 2 Tigers (21-7, 6-3) travel to play No. 6 Georgia (24-3, 7-2).”This will be a great challenge and will be a lot of fun,” said LSU senior pitcher Louis Coleman. “Georgia’s a great team, and we’ll have to play our best to win the series.”The series will be the second road SEC series for Ott and the Tigers.The New Orleans native said he didn’t expect to be in this position during his first collegiate season.”When they recruited me, they told me I should be ready to pitch early,” Ott said. “They told me they liked my stuff, but I didn’t realize I’d be closing this early. But I am definitely ready anytime coach calls my number.”The Bulldogs come into the game atop the SEC Eastern Division after advancing to the College World Series championship series last season.Senior first baseman Rich Poythress leads the Bulldogs’ offense and is hitting .449 with 13 home runs and 48 RBI.But LSU pitching contained the Georgia slugger in last season’s series and held him to a .222 average in the three-game series.”We’ll have to hit our spots and get ahead in the count on him,” Mainieri said.Pitching has been the calling card for both teams through three SEC series.LSU enters the weekend No. 2 in the conference with a 3.62 team ERA.Sophomore Anthony Ranaudo, senior Louis Coleman and sophomore Austin Ross make up the Tigers’ weekend rotation and have combined to go 12-5 so far this season.But pitching failed the Tigers in their last game — LSU used six pitchers and gave up eight runs Wednesday in an 8-7 loss at Tulane.”It was one of those nights,” said junior outfielder Jared Mitchell. “That’s just baseball. You can’t win them all.”The Bulldogs will counter with an SEC-leading 3.47 team ERA.Senior pitcher Trevor Holder leads the Georgia rotation and comes into the weekend 5-1 with a 3.06 ERA.Georgia junior Dean Weaver leads the Bulldogs’ bullpen and has five saves on the season.Georgia was unbeaten in three meetings with LSU last season, winning two games and tying another.That series was the last SEC series the Tigers lost — LSU won 12-straight conference games to close the 2008 season and have won their first three SEC series this season.But despite the Bulldogs’ success against LSU last season, Coleman said LSU doesn’t have any ill will toward Georgia.”Georgia’s probably got the best attitude of all the teams we played last year, so it’s not like we have any resentment toward them or anything,” Coleman said. “I’d like to win two out of three, but I don’t think there’s any grudge against them.”—-Contact Casey Gisclair at [email protected]