Bulldogs Blast Owls

Sunday, November 5

Athens, Ga.

Noon

University of Georgia

Kennesaw State

Photo by: Kari Hodges/UGAAA

November 05, 2023 | Baseball

ATHENS------Georgia wrapped up fall baseball with a 12-4 win over Kennesaw State Sunday at Foley Field in front of a crowd of 924.

The Bulldogs tallied four home runs including a pair by sophomore All-America Charlie Condon (3-for-5, 3 RBI) along with one each by graduate Dillon Carter and junior Slate Alford. Georgia employed 13 pitchers in the 12-inning exhibition while the Owls used 10 hurlers.

Alford got the scoring started with a solo home run in the bottom of the first off Nolan Sliver. The Owls went on top 2-1 on a two-run home run by Kaden Brown as part of a three-run outburst in the second. Georgia answered in the bottom of the inning when Carter tied the game with a two-run blast. Condon's line drive shot off right-hander Smith Pinson, featuring an exit velocity of 111 miles per hour, in the third put Georgia in front for good at 4-3.

The Bulldogs added a run in the seventh, two more in the 10^th on Condon's second home run, and a five-spot in the 11^th provided the final. KSU had a chance to close the gap in the ninth, loading the bases with two outs. However, senior left-hander Collin Caldwell struck out Jake Streeter to maintain the advantage.

Graduate Josh Roberge picked up the win with 1.1 scoreless innings and two strikeouts while Pinson got the loss, allowing one run on one hit in two innings. Bulldog sophomore Leighton Finley started and provided one scoreless inning with two strikeouts. Daniel Padysak started the second before giving way to Roberge. After that, Kolten Smith was next on the mound followed by Zachary Harris, Brian Zeldin, Brandt Pancer, DJ Radtke, Will Pearson, Caldwell, Ethan Sutton, Zach DeVito and Tyler McLoughlin.

Ike Cousins Head Coach Wes Johnson on the pitching staff
"We threw a lot of guys again today, and we're looking at their heartbeats. It's different when you play another team compared to just scrimmages against your teammates. I thought several of the guys threw well. We'll continue to work on a lot of things. We're not defining roles yet like starter, closer, reliever. We're going to continue to give them opportunities to get outs."

Coach Johnson on Outfielder Dillon Carter
"Dillon Carter is a really good player and that clubhouse guy too. Not only is he a good player but when you look at defensive centerfielders when the SEC season is over, if he's not going to be in the top half…then we've got a lot of people headed to the big leagues."

Charlie Condon On Fall Practice
"It has been awesome. This group has worked so hard. It is a lot of new guys. It has been a 50/50 new roster with portal guys, freshmen and returners all together. To get out here and to get the competitive feel playing against someone who that is not yourselves after a long fall of intrasquads is always super exciting."

Josh Roberge On His Outings In the Scrimmage Including Today
"Last week against Florida and this past week in intrasquad, I have really been focusing on my splitter location. I was throwing balls in the dirt there. Elevating my eyes, a little bit, that pitch really helped me out. The fastball was good today. I have made some adjustments all fall that were finally starting to show. It is at the end of the fall where stuff starts to play out. I felt like I had everything going today, the slider was good, the fastball was good. They had some competitive at bats. They are good. They had some good guys in there. We had to be sharp today to be successful."