The Bulldogs are 31-12 under first-year baseball coach Ike Cousins 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 nonconference game of the regular season for Georgia. The Bulldogs have three more SEC series. Next up in league action, Georgia will host No. 13 Vanderbilt starting Friday at Foley Field.
Series history with KSU: Georgia leads the KSU series 23-11, including a 15-5 victory in eight innings at Athens on April 9. The Owls have had some impressive road wins this year. They were 2-1 against No. 8 Kentucky, which is 33-9 now, and 1-2 against now No. 4 Clemson (34-9).
Launch comparison: Georgia will begin RHP’s second year Zach Harris (3-0, 9.00 ERA), and this will be his 15th appearance of the year, including his 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 one walk and two strikeouts. He got a no decision as the Bulldogs won 4-3 in 15 innings. Harris picked up 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 for the Eagles. KSU will counter with junior RHP Smith Pinson (2-6, 5.30 ERA).
Stay Warm: The Bulldogs rank third nationally with a school-record 109 home runs, matching the 2009 club that set the mark in 62 games. Also of note, this year’s team achieved a school-record 10 Grand Slams. Georgia is third nationally with a .595 hitting percentage, while it is sixth in on-base percentage at .436. The Bulldogs are batting .306 with a team ERA of 5.45 and a fielding percentage of .975. The Owls enter Tuesday batting .289 with 35 home runs, a .426 SLG% and a .390 OB%. KSU has an ERA of 5.29 and a FLDG of 0.969%.
Top hitters to watch: The Bulldog offense is headlined by All-America sophomore Charlie Condon. The top potential 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 a 1.090 SLG%. He has a .567 OB% (third nationally) with 37 walks (17 intentional) and 61 RBI. Senior Corey Collins is also enjoying a great year at .371-13-40. Collins leads the nation with a .586 OB%. Second year student Kolby Branch has 13 home runs and 46 RBI while a junior Alford Slate has 49 RBI.
Condon broke the school record of 54 career home runs in just 99 games. The former mark belonged to former first-round draft pick Gordon Beckham (Chicago White Sox), who hit 53 in 197 games. This season, Condon had seven multi-home run games, including one with three home runs (Michigan State).
The Owls’ leading hitters are Spencer Hanson (.362-5-26), Brayden Eidson (.356-4-36) and their leading home run and RBI producer is Issac Bouton (.317-10-42).
Radio/TV/Live Statistics Links
Tuesday at 6:02 pm ET (ESPN+)
Radio: 960TheRef (Jeff Dantzler and David Johnston)
TELEVISION: ESPN+
Live Stats:
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