Link to Article on The Red & Black
By Olivia Sayer
Georgia infielder/outfielder Charlie Condon (24) during Georgia’s game against South Carolina at Founders Park in Columbia, Sc., on Thursday, May 09, 2024. The slugger now has the most home runs in a single season in the BBCOR era with 34. (Photo Courtesy/Kari Hodges/UGAAA)
The Georgia offense just keeps hitting.
The Bulldogs outpowered No. 14 South Carolina 14-10 Thursday evening at Founders Park. In a game that lasted over four hours, both teams showcased their offensive capabilities.
Georgia’s offensive leader Charlie Condon etched his name into yet another record book. With a second inning solo shot, the sophomore slugger recorded the most home runs in a single season in the BBCOR era. The BBCOR is a standard that all non-wood bats must pass to be deemed legal by the NCAA. The premise leveled the playing field for college hitters.
“I don’t think there’s really any way to get him out,” South Carolina head coach Mark Kingston said of Condon prior to the game. “So you’ve got to try to minimize his damage. You’ve got to try to do the best you can to limit his impact on the game. That’s really all you can do when a guy has those kinds of stats because those are the kinds of stats that would make Barry Bonds blush.”
When asked how to pitch to Condon, Kingston said that you “throw the ball to the backstop, and hope he doesn’t steal second base.”
In Condon’s second at-bat of the game, Ty Good did not throw a pitch to the backstop, but rather a 91 mph fastball over the heart of the plate. Good expected Condon to take the first pitch, as he did in his first at-bat. Condon took advantage of the assumed patience and hit his 34th ball of the season out of the park. It was his eighth-straight game with a home run.
The record-breaking homer followed a two-run blast from Corey Collins in the second inning. The back-to-back long balls gave Georgia a 7-3 lead and sent South Carolina’s relievers running to the bullpen.
Georgia’s offense came out firing in the first inning, as the Bulldogs gained a one-run lead just two batters into the game. A two-run shot by Tre Phelps then gave Georgia a 4-0 advantage before the Gamecocks picked up a bat.
South Carolina stormed back against Georgia’s Jarvis Evans, scoring three runs of its own in the first. The offenses chased both starters from the game after recording only one out.
The first inning foreshadowed the rest of the game, as both offenses exchanged blows until the final out was recorded.
After a walk and hit by pitch to the bottom of Georgia’s order in the fifth, Fernando Gonzalez sent a ball over the fence in left field to put the Bulldogs ahead by six. Facing a South Carolina pitching staff that averaged less than a home run allowed per game, the Bulldogs teed off. Georgia hit five home runs, with two coming off the bat of Phelps.
On a number of occasions, it appeared as if Georgia was set to run-rule South Carolina. However, the pitching staff’s inability to attack the strike zone kept the Gamecocks in the game.
Georgia only walked five South Carolina batters but hit six with a pitch, which resulted in warnings to both teams in the bottom of the seventh. The 11 free passes combined with three errors allowed the Gamecocks to scrap their way back into the game.
However, the pitching staff clamped down when it mattered most, as Chandler Marsh’s perfect ninth inning shut the door on the comeback attempt.
The Bulldogs look to both extend their six-game winning streak and take their first road series of the season Friday at 5:30 p.m. Reigning SEC Pitcher of the Week Leighton Finley is set to face South Carolina’s Eli Jones (3-3, 4.53 ERA). It is projected that the winner of this series is a lock to host a Regional.