Georgia Baseball splits midweeks as Charlie Condon shines
ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia Baseball’s midweek games got mixed results. The Bulldogs beat Presbyterian on Tuesday before they dropped their first game of the season on Wednesday with Michigan State in town. The action saw several players make their UGA debuts on the mound, an impressive outing from Jarvis Evans and an even more jaw dropping performance at the plate from Charlie Condon. All in all, UGA comes out of the midweek at 8-1 on the season. Here’s how it happened…
Presbyterian: 4-3 W
The Blue Hose grabbed a 2-0 lead early in the game with a home run in the first, but Jarvis Evans quickly settled in. By the next time he was on the bump, the Bulldogs had it tied thanks to a home run from Charlie Condon and a bases-loaded walk to Kolby Branch, scoring Logan Jordan.
As we said, Evans got in a rhythm. He walked just one more and allowed only one more hit in 4.0 more innings of work. Striking out six, Evans came up just one shy of his career-high.
Georgia didn’t do any more damage until the sixth when Branch picked up his second RBI of the game. This time, a single scored Paul Toetz to give Georgia the lead. However, in the top eighth, another Presbyterian home run tied it up before Condon walked with the bases loaded to bring home the go-ahead run with two away in the bottom of the eighth. Two strikeouts and a fly out on a total of 11 pitches from Brian Zeldin sent the Dawgs home victorious. Zach Harris picked up the win while Max DeJong, Coleman Willis and Daniel Padysak also contributed to the effort on the moudn.
The win put UGA at 8-0 on the season, tying Wes Johnson for the school record best story by a first-year baseball coach in the modern era. Ron Polk also won his first eight games in 2000.
Michigan State: 19-6 L
Georgia didn’t have quite the same luck on Wednesday, falling to the visiting Spartans out of the Big Ten. It’s the first power conference opponent the Bulldogs have played this season and the first of two mid-week visits UGA will have from the Big Ten.
Michigan State did the majority of its damage in two innings. After a two-run home run from Charlie Condon put Georgia up 2-0 in the bottom of the first, the Spartans responded with five in the second. Condon came to the plate once again in the bottom half of that inning and sent another one out of the ballpark, marking the ninth straight game to start the season he’s hit safely multiple times.
The third and fourth innings were quiet for Michigan State with 1-2-3 quick work by Zach DeVito and Ryan Gold – each of whom were making their season debuts. For the freshman Gold, it was his first career appearance, one of four to do so toeing the rubber for the Bulldogs.
In the bottom half of the fourth, Georgia was able to retake the lead with a pair of home runs. The first of those was the third of the game for Condon before Tre Phelps brought two home with his shot to left. Condon, the reining SEC Player of the Week, becomes the 11th player in program history to tie the program-record with two career contests hitting three home runs He previously did so in a 13-11 win over Florida, the eventual national runner-up.
The six runs was all Georgia could muster however. Michigan State regained the lead with a seven-run fifth inning before adding a combined seven in the sixth and seventh as well. Georgia’s loss is the first of the season and came by way of the run-rule.
What’s Next?
It’s rivalry weekend for Georgia with a trio of contests coming up against Georgia Tech. The Bulldogs will head to Atlanta on Friday (6:00 p.m. ET, ACCNX) before hosting the Yellow Jackets at Foley Field on Saturday (2:00 p.m. ET, SECN+). Then, on Sunday, the series finale will take place at a neutral site as the two teams meet in the middle: Coolray Field in Lawrenceville, home of the Braves’ Triple-A affiliate, the Gwinnett Stripers. First pitch of Game Three is set for 3:00 p.m. ET with the only way to tune in coming over the radio. Last season, Georgia took two of three from Tech.
