Diamond Dogs travel to Kennesaw

There is Diamond Dogs baseball this evening: the University of Georgia’s baseball team travels to Cobb County to take on the Kennesaw State Owls in a game that is set for 6 o’clock tonight.

From Christopher Lakos, UGA Sports Communications…

The 18th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs travel to Kennesaw State Tuesday with first pitch at 6:02 p.m. and streamed on ESPN+. The game will be available on the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network.

The Bulldogs are 31-12 under first-year Ike Cousins head baseball coach Wes Johnson. The Owls are 24-18 and are coached by Ryan Coe who is in his second season. Tuesday’s contest will be the final non-conference game of the regular season for Georgia. The Bulldogs have three more SEC series. Up next in league action, Georgia will play host to No. 13 Vanderbilt starting Friday at Foley Field.

Series History With KSU: Georgia leads the KSU series 23-11 including a 15-5 run-rule win in eight innings in Athens on Apr. 9. The Owls have had some impressive road wins this year. They went 2-1 against No. 8 Kentucky, who is 33-9 now, and 1-2 against now No. 4 Clemson (34-9).

Pitching Matchup: Georgia will start sophomore RHP Zach Harris (3-0, 9.00 ERA), and this will be his 15th appearance of the year including second start as a Bulldog. Last Tuesday, he started and went 2.2 innings against No. 4 Clemson, allowing two runs on three hits with a walk and two strikeouts. He got a no decision as the Bulldogs eventually won 4-3 in 15 innings. Harris earned the win over the Owls earlier this year with a scoreless inning of relief. He went 2-4 with a 7.85 ERA as a freshman at Georgia Southern in 2023. He made 19 appearances including seven starts with the Eagles. KSU will counter with junior RHP Smith Pinson (2-6, 5.30 ERA).

Stay Hot: The Bulldogs rank third nationally with a school record-tying 109 home runs, which matches the 2009 club that set the mark in 62 games. Also of note, this year’s squad has hit a school record 10 grand slams. Georgia is third nationally with a .595 slugging percentage while it is sixth in on base percentage at .436. The Bulldogs are batting .306 with a 5.45 team ERA and .975 fielding percentage. The Owls enters Tuesday batting .289 with 35 home runs, a .426 SLG% and .390 OB%. KSU owns a 5.29 ERA and a .969 FLDG%.

Top Hitters To Watch: The Bulldog offense is headlined by sophomore All-America Charlie Condon. The potential top draft pick in 2024 according to MLB.com, Condon leads the NCAA with a .461 batting average, a school record 29 home runs, 182 total bases and 1.090 SLG%. He has a .567 OB% (third nationally) with 37 walks (17 intentional) and 61 RBI. Senior Corey Collins is enjoying a fine year too at .371-13-40. Collins leads the country with a .586 OB%. Junior Kolby Branch has 13 home runs and 46 RBI while junior Slate Alford is second on the club with 49 RBI.

Condon has smashed a school record 54 career home runs in only 99 games The old mark belonged to former first round draft pick Gordon Beckham (Chicago White Sox) who hit 53 in 197 games. This season, Condon has had seven games with multiple home runs including one with three home runs (Michigan State).

The Owls top hitters are Spencer Hanson (.362-5-26), Brayden Eidson (.356-4-36) and the leading home run and RBI producer is Issac Bouton (.317-10-42).

©2024 Cox Media Group