Top Dawg: Condon the new HR king
There’s a new home run champion at Georgia and his name is Charlie Condon.
After tying both the single-season and career mark by Gordon Beckham in game one of Saturday’s doubleheader, Condon made both records his own with a two-run homer in the top of the seventh of game two against Texas A&M.
Condon – projected by many to be the top pick in July’s Major League Draft – now has 29 home runs this season and 54 for his career.
Beckham, who became a first-round pick of the Chicago White Sox, held the old marks at 28 and 53, respectively.
Condon’s homer helped the Bulldogs (31-12, 10-11) secure a 5-4 win after losing the opener 19-9.
“It’s amazing,” Condon told David Johnston on Georgia’s postgame radio show. “With the path the last couple of years, the redshirt my freshman year … this is what I’ve worked for. It’s fun for it to pay off with a group like this. I love to be able to contribute with such a good group of great guys. It means a lot. We’re not done yet, but we’re going to keep on rolling and hopefully, there’s a couple more coming.”
It’s been quite the career for the former walk-on. He burst onto the scene last year, earning freshman All-SEC honors after a season that saw him hit .386 with 25 home runs and 61 RBI.
This season has been even better.
After Saturday’s effort, Condon is hitting an SEC-best .461 with 29 home runs and 61 RBI.
“I’m speechless. They did a really good job. They pitched him tough this weekend. I thought it was one of the better plans against Charlie I’ve seen all year. Charlie was a little frustrated at times, they kept getting him to ground out, were throwing some really, really good edge pitches, so tip your hat to them,” head coach Wes Johnson said. “But I tell you what, they also made a couple of mistakes, and when they did, he hit them a long way.”
Condon’s first home run of the day came in the first inning of game one, helping propel the Bulldogs to an early 9-0 lead.
A grand slam by Fernando Gonzalez highlighted the inning. But the Aggies scored 19 unanswered runs to ultimately run-rule the Bulldogs, 19-9.
Game two was not going the Bulldogs' way until Kolby Branch’s solo home run in the seventh cut the lead to 2-1. Two batters later, pinch-hitter Tre Phelps launched a two-run shot, before Condon’s record-breaking two-run home run gave Georgia a 5-2 lead.
Texas A&M scored a pair to draw within 5-4.
But Christian Mracna made sure it held up.
After taking over for Jarvis Evans following a leadoff walk in the eighth, Mracna allowed a single before striking out the next three batters, sending the game to the ninth.
Georgia failed to score, but Mracna did not let the lead get away.
He did so by striking out the side in the ninth, fanning the number two, three, and four hitters in the batting order to sew up the victory and hand Texas A&M just its second home loss in 30 games.
Mracna’s effort also saved the win for starter Kolten Smith (6-2), who allowed just two runs on six hits with two walks and 11 strikeouts.
“I thought Kolten Smith executing four pitches in the strike zone, and what Christian Mracna did there at the end, that’s what big-time guys do,” Johnson said. “The first game didn’t go the way we wanted it to, but I knew Kolten would get us off to a good start. I just kept telling our guys in that second game, just stay in there. Somebody’s going to make a mistake, we’re going to get, and we’ll hit it out of here.”
NOTES:
…Georgia returns to action Tuesday at Kennesaw State. The Bulldogs host Vanderbilt for a three-game series starting on Friday.
…Over the last 18.1 innings, Mracna has struck out 30 batters, allowing just two walks and two earned runs.
…The win was just Georgia’s second in 12 games at College Station.
