Bulldog on pace to lofty ranking among sluggers

At the start of each week throughout the regular season, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution will take a closer look at the Georgia baseball team. Here’s a breakdown of the Bulldogs going into the 10th week:

Record: 27-9, 7-8 SEC. Streak: Won 1. Rankings: No. 9 RPI. Last Week (3-1): Tuesday, beat Kennesaw State 15-5 (8 innings); Thursday, beat Missouri 15-10; Friday, lost to Missouri 6-5 (10); Saturday, beat Missouri 10-7.

This Week: 6 p.m. Friday, vs. Ole Miss (20-16, 5-10 SEC); 2 p.m. Saturday, vs. Ole Miss; 1 p.m. Sunday, vs. Ole Miss.

Week in review: Playing one of the SEC’s bottom-feeders, the Bulldogs were hoping for a sweep of Missouri (16-21, 5-10 SEC). Instead, they won two of the three games in the series, scrapping to hold onto a 10-7 win Saturday.

Georgia had pitcher Kolten Smith to thank for the clinching victory. The sophomore righthander came out of the bullpen to earn the victory with 10 strikeouts in six innings of relief. He improved to 4-2.

Charlie Condon hit his NCAA-leading 24th home run Saturday, extending his hitting streak to seven games. Condon’s incredible season captured the attention this past week of Baseball America, which identified him as the top pro baseball prospect of 2024. According to that publication, Condon stands to become the preeminent slugger of the 21st century.

Condon has virtually no shot of breaking the single-season home run record of former Oklahoma State player Pete Incaviglia, who hit 48 in 1985 when the Cowboys played 75 games, including 65 in the regular season. Georgia will play 53 regular-season games this year. But Condon’s pace for home runs per game (0.68 per game) exceeds that of Incaviglia (.64). That remains shy of Augusta’s Keith Hammond in 1987 (.74), but it easily would be the best of the 21st century if Condon can maintain his current pace. Gonzaga player Nate Gold’s .59 home runs per game in 2002 was the only time a D-I hitter in the 2000s has topped .54 home runs per game.

No 21st century college player has topped Jac Caglianone’s 33 home runs of 2023, according to Baseball America. Only seven in the 21st century have hit more than 30 home runs. At the current rate, Condon could exceed that number in the regular season. He’s on pace to do it in Georgia’s 50th game of the season.

Condon has a better shot of breaking the single-season Division I slugging percentage record, also held by Incaviglia. Condon’s 1.113 slugging percentage is a tick below Incaviglia’s 1.140. Condon’s .926 career slugging percentage is even closer to Rickie Weeks’ career slugging record of .927.

Week ahead: Georgia reached the midpoint of the SEC season. If the Bulldogs can win at least eight of its final 15 SEC games, it should be in line for an NCAA Tournament bid.

They could help themselves this week with Ole Miss visiting. The Rebels have taken a couple steps back since winning the 2022 College World Series. Georgia needs to at least claim the series, as the second half of the conference slate is tougher than the first. Every other league team the Bulldogs face will be ranked.

Not having a midweek game this week should help. The Rebels travel Tuesday to Arkansas State before coming to Athens.