ATHENS, Ga. — The No. 24 Georgia Bulldogs face the Georgia State Panthers Tuesday at Foley Field with first pitch at 5:02 p.m.
The Bulldogs are 22-6 (4-5 SEC) under new head coach Wes Johnson. For the third time this season, Georgia is ranked among the nation’s top 25 teams. This week, the Bulldogs are No. 24 in the USA TODAY Coaches poll. They are not ranked in this week’s Baseball America or D1Basball.com Top 25. The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCWBA) Top 25 is due out late Monday.
Georgia features one of the nation’s top offenses with an NCAA-leading 82 home runs and .661 slugging percentage while its .451 on base percentage ranks second nationally. The Bulldogs are fifth nationally in scoring, averaging 10.0 runs/game. A total of 14 Bulldogs have hit home runs. All-America 3B/1B/OF Charlie Condon leads the NCAA with 19 home runs. Georgia hit 101 HR (Condon-25) last year which ranked third most in school history. This squad is on pace to hit a school record 164 in the regular season! Condon’s career total of 44 home runs ranks fifth in school history. Condon is aiming to become the first Bulldog in school history to hit 20 home runs in a season twice in their career.
About GSU: The Panthers (15-12, 7-2 SBC) won a Sun Belt series over James Madison that finished up Saturday. JMU won the first game 14-6 while State came back to win 7-2 and then 8-7 to claim the series. Dylan Strickland provided the go-ahead two-run home run in the seventh to lift the Panthers past JMU in the rubber game. They are batting .272 with a .473 slugging percentage, a 5.64 ERA and a .964 fielding percentage. Senior infielder Will Mize leads the club offensively at .333-8-27.
Series History: Georgia leads the series 48-9 dating to 1971. Earlier this season, Georgia registered a 15-0 road win over the Panthers (Feb. 20). All-America Charlie Condon hit a pair of home runs, Logan Jordan drove in four runs and six pitchers combined on a three-hit shutout. Jarvis Evans started and went three innings as part of a planned staff outing for the victory. The final five hurlers all made their 2024 Bulldog debut: Tyler McLoughlin, Zach Harris, Daniel Padysak, DJ Radtke and Luke Wiltrakis. GSU beat Georgia last season 9-7 in Athens.
Tuesday Pitching Matchup: Georgia will start senior right-hander Brandt Pancer (0-0, 12.15 ERA). It will be his eighth appearance but first start as a Bulldog. This year, he has thrown only 6.2 innings. Georgia State will counter with redshirt junior right-hander Dylan Matela (0-0, 4.15 ERA). He has made three appearances including one start for a total of 4.1 innings this year.
On Deck: On Friday, Georgia returns to SEC action when it begins a road series with No. 19 Mississippi State (19-10, 4-5 SEC). Both teams are tied for eighth in the league standings. Game times are 7 p.m. ET (SECN+), 8 p.m. ET (SECN) and 2 p.m. (SECN+).
