Diamond Dogs host Owls

There is baseball this afternoon in Athens: UGA’s Diamond Dogs host the Kennesaw State Owls, with first pitch set for 5 o’clock at Foley Field.

From Christopher Lakos, UGA Sports Communications...

The Bulldogs are 24-8 under first-year Ike Cousins head coach Wes Johnson. Georgia is 19-1 at home this year including 16-1 against non-conference foes. The lone defeat at Foley Field came to Michigan State on Feb. 28. The Owls (17-13) have had some impressive road wins this year against teams now ranked in the top 10. They went 2-1 against Kentucky who is 27-4 overall, 11-1 in the SEC and ranked 10th, and 1-2 against now No. 2 Clemson (28-3).

This past weekend, the Bulldogs had their second straight SEC road series and third in the past month. The Bulldogs dropped a series to No. 19 Mississippi State 2-1. The Owls lost a road series 2-1 at Stetson. Back on March 6, the Bulldogs posted an 11-5 win over Stetson at Foley Field.

Hitters To Watch: The Midseason Player of the Year according to D1Baseball.com and Perfect Game USA is Georgia redshirt sophomore infielder/outfielder Charlie Condon (.458-20-42, 1.067 SLG%, .570 OB%, .990 FLDG%). A projected 2024 first round draft pick, he has led the country in as many as six offensive categories this season. Since going 5-for-6 with two home runs and three RBI at No. 5 Tennessee on March 30, he has hit a rough patch. In his past five games, he is 3-for-21 with one home run and two RBI, dropping his average to a mere .458. In this week’s NCAA statistical rankings, Condon remains the NCAA leader in home runs, slugging percentage and total bases plus is third in batting average, fourth in hits and sixth in on base percentage.

In the recent road series with No. 19 Mississippi State, freshman Tre Phelps (.340-3-11) batted .500, going 5-for-10 with two doubles and an RBI. Senior Corey Collins (.381-12-32) has reached base in 20 straight games, matching the team’s longest streak also done by Condon earlier this year.

KSU’s leading hitter is senior Brayden Eidson (.375-3-24) while the top power and RBI man is senior Isaac Bouton (.322-8-26).

Series History: Georgia leads the all-time series 22-11 dating to 2006. Georgia has won five in a row in the series with KSU’s last victory coming in 2021 in Kennesaw (6-4). Last year, the Bulldogs won 6-4 at KSU and 10-9 at Foley Field.

Tuesday Pitching Matchup: Georgia will start sophomore RHP Blake Gillespie (0-0, 9.95 ERA). It will be his first start this season after seven relief appearances covering a span of 6.1 innings. He pitched 0.2 scoreless innings this past Sunday at No. 19 MSU, allowing one hit with one walk and one strikeout. Gillespie made three starts last year when he went 0-1 with a 14.66 ERA in 11.2 innings.

KSU will counter with junior RHP Halton Hardy (0-0, 2.16 ERA) who is a native of Athens and a graduate of East Jackson High School. It will be his first start after seven relief outings covering a total of 8.1 innings. Most teams use a staff approach during their midweek contests, employing between seven to nine pitchers.

Rutherford Street Closure: Please note this season that one hour before game time, Rutherford Street, next to Foley Field, will be closed to vehicle traffic until 30 minutes post-game.

©2024 Cox Media Group