Mark Kingston on Charlie Condon: 'Those are the kind of stats that would make Barry Bonds blush'

FaceProfileby:Thomas Goldkamp•05/09/24

South Carolina will take on rival Georgia this weekend and when it does so it’ll face one of the top players in the country in Bulldogs slugger Charlie Condon.

Condon has been on an absolute tear at the plate this season, doing unheard of things.

So how will South Carolina stop him this weekend? Coach Mark Kingston laughed when asked by a reporter this week.

“I’ll give you all the secrets, John,” Kingston quipped. “I think when you hit .459 with 33 homers and 1.100 slugging and almost .600 on-base percentage, yeah I don’t think there’s any way to get him out. There’s just not. So you’ve got to try to minimize his damage.”

Charlie Condon has hit a nation-leading 33 home runs. That ties the BBCOR era record set by Florida‘s Jac Caglianone last year in a significantly larger number of games.

He’s also hit a home run in seven straight games now, just two shy of an NCAA record that Caglianone matched earlier this year at nine games. If he can continue on his streak, of course, Condon will have a chance to break that record.

But he also can do so much more.

Charlie Condon is on track to take Georgia’s Triple Crown once again with a nation-leading .459 batting average, a team-high 69 RBI and his NCAA-best 33 home runs. He also leads UGA in doubles (16), runs scored (70, 25 more than any teammate) and hits (83, 20 more than any teammate).

Added Kingston:

“You’ve got to try to do the best you can of limiting his impact on a game and that’s really all you can do when a guy has those kinds of stats, because those are the kind of stats that would make Barry Bonds blush. It’s incredible.”

Condon has hit safely in 18 straight games now, another remarkable streak that he has going.

Whether he can keep those streaks intact against South Carolina remains to be seen, but the Gamecocks are under no illusions about the seriousness of the threat Charlie Condon presents.

First pitch between the Bulldogs and Gamecocks on Thursday is set for 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPNU. Games two and three follow at 5:30 and 2:00 p.m. ET on SEC Network (Friday) and SEC Network+ (Saturday).