ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia's Charlie Condon may have smashed three home runs, but Michigan State was hotter en route to a 19-6 run-rule decision in seven innings Wednesday at Foley Field.
The Spartans (3-5) spoiled a big night by Bulldog All-American Condon (3-for-4, 4 RBI), who tied a school record by hitting three home runs. He gave the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead with a two-run home run in the first. It was his fifth of the season. The lead was short-lived as the Spartans responded with five runs in the second to take a 5-2 advantage.
Georgia trimmed the deficit to 5-3 in the second inning when Condon blasted his second home run of the night, this one traveling 437 feet with an exit velocity of 114 miles per hour. In the fourth, Condon struck again as his seventh home run of the year went 373 feet over the right field fence. Later in the frame, freshman Tre Phelps’ two-run shot put the Bulldogs in front 6-5.
MSU rallied back to take a 12-6 lead in the top of the fifth as a pair of Bulldog miscues eventually led to a seven-run outburst. MSU would add two more runs in the sixth and five in the seventh for the final. In his fourth plate appearance, Condon came up with two men on and the Spartans elected to intentionally walk him.
Georgia (8-1) employed eight pitchers on the night, including three freshmen that made their debut. Freshman reliever Ethan Sutton allowed four runs, only one earned, to fall to 0-1. Georgia freshman Ryan Gold pitched a scoreless inning, as did senior Zach DeVito. MSU reliever Logan Pikur tossed two scoreless innings for his first win
"Is it the outcome we want?" Georgia coach Wes Johnson said. "Absolutely not, but at the same time, you’ve got to see what you’ve got, and we did that today…now that we’ve seen these guys, we can coach them up and see where their heartbeat is."
Johnson added he hopes his team will flush their first loss of the season.
“I guess we’ll find out on Friday. I’ve talked to them about this game tonight, and we’ve talked about consistency. You’ve got to believe in yourself.”
Condon said, "One loss doesn't define us."
One day doesn’t define us. One win doesn’t define us," Condon said. "It’s tougher to flush the losses because they sting a little worse. We’re going to come out tomorrow and have a good practice and then move on to Georgia Tech this weekend.”
Georgia returns to action Friday at Georgia Tech, with the first pitch set for 6:02 p.m.
Georgia and Tech will continue a three-game series on Saturday in Athens at 2 p.m. and then at Coolray Field on Sunday at 3 p.m. as part of the Spring Baseball Classic to benefit Children’s Health Care of Atlanta.
