Diamond Dogs in Knoxville for series against No. 5 Tennessee

The Diamond Dog baseball team spends its weekend in Knoxville: game one of a three-game series for Coach Wes Johnson’s team is set for 6:30 this evening. UGA’s baseball team is taking on the 5th ranked Tennessee Volunteers.

From Christopher Lakos, UGA Sports Communications…

The No. 24 Georgia Bulldogs have another SEC road test starting Friday against No. 5 Tennessee. First pitch will be at 6:30 p.m. The first game will be streamed on SECN+ while Saturday and Sunday’s action will be on the SEC Network. The entire series will be available on the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network.

The Bulldogs (21-4, 3-3 SEC) aim to keep their momentum going after a splendid week where they won four straight games while batting .358 with 18 home runs and outscoring their opponents 43 to 21. On Monday, Georgia, under the direction of Ike Cousins head baseball coach Wes Johnson, made its debut in the Baseball America and the USA TODAY Coaches Sports Top 25 rankings at No. 24. Tuesday’s home game with Mercer was postponed due to rain. The Vols (22-4, 3-3 SEC) are 19-1 at home. The Bulldogs and Vols rank 1-2 nationally in home runs with Georgia tallying 74 on the year to Tennessee’s 68.

C+C Hitting Factory: Formed in 1989, C+C Music Factory had hit singles like “Gonna Make You Sweat,” “Here We Go and “Things That Make You Go Hmmm..” Now located in Athens, there’s “C+C Hitting Factory of Charlie Condon and Corey Collins that have pitchers sweating, fans barking and producing mammoth home runs that make everybody go hmmm.

Collins, a 6-3, 236-pound first baseman, is the reigning SEC Player of the Week after batting an SEC best .647-6-13 in helping Georgia go 4-0 last week. He started three games off with a home run. On the year, Collins has 17 hits with 10 of them home runs.

Condon, a 6-6, 216-pound infielder/outfielder, is a National Player of the Year candidate and the potential number one overall pick of the 2024 MLB Draft. Condon leads the nation in batting (.519), slugging percentage (.664), home runs (17) and on base percentage (.637). This season, he has started all 25 games with 11 at third base, five in left field, four in right field, three in centerfield and two at first base. Condon has a 1.000 fielding percentage in 73 total chances.

Series History: UT leads the all-time series 127-122 dating to 1909. Georgia won the 2023 series over #19 UT in Athens 2-1 while the top-ranked Vols claimed the 2022 series in Knoxville 2-1.

Starting Pitching Candidates: The UGA & UT pitching rotations will be announced Thursday afternoon by both clubs. Last weekend, Georgia’s rotation against Alabama featured graduate LHP Charlie Goldstein (3-0, 5.16), sophomore RHP Leighton Finley (2-1, 3.75) and graduate RHP Christian Mracna (3-1, 3.57). UT’s starters in the Ole Miss series were junior RHP AJ Causey (5-0, 1.91), junior RHP Drew Beam (3-1, 3.34) and senior LHP Zander Sechrist (0-0, 3.38).

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