Mark Kingston shares South Carolina's starting rotation for Georgia series

South Carolina welcomes a surging Georgia club to Founders Park this weekend for the penultimate conference series of the regular season, with the Gamecock pitching staff facing a mountain of a task going up against star Bulldog Charlie Condon.

Condon and the Dawgs pose a mighty offensive attack this season, with six guys in the lineup batting north of .300 while Condon is putting up some of the craziest numbers the SEC has seen in years (more on that in a bit). So, head Carolina coach Mark Kingston has to have his best arms ready to deal in a titular matchup this coming weekend.

As for who those arms will be, we now know of at least two starters that will take the mound for the Gamecocks. When asked who is slated to toss the first pitch in the three games, Kingston gave definitive answers on two in his press conference previewing the series:

“We’ll go Kimball, Jones, TBA,” he revealed.

Roman Kimball has started six games this season and completed 27.1 innings of action on the mound in 2024. He’s posted an ERA of 4.61 and has allowed just 17 hits all season. On the other hand, Eli Jones leads the team in starts this season with 12, and also leads in innings pitched with 55.2 under his belt — posting a 4.53 ERA during that action.

Those two will certainly have their hands full with that Georgia lineup and especially Charlie Condon. Or will they?

Kingston jokes Carolina won’t pitch to Charlie Condon

Star Georgia baseball player Charlie Condon might as well leave his bat at home when the Bulldogs head to Columbia to face South Carolina this weekend.

That’s because South Carolina head coach Mark Kingston has absolutely no intention to pitch the ball to the future top MLB Draft choice. When asked how he plans to pitch to Condon at his press conference previewing the Georgia series, he answered that the Gamecocks simply won’t.

“You throw the ball to the back stop and make sure he doesn’t steal second base. How about that?” joked Kingston to media with a very brief answer.

But seriously, that could be the best strategy given just how ludicrous Condon’s hitting statistics are this season. He’s officially hitting .459 on the year heading into the series and slugging 1.105%, with 83 total hits and 33 home runs, as well as 70 total runs scored — all figures that lead the Bulldog lineup by a significant amount. Plus, his average is the best in the country, and while playing in the toughest conference, too.

Perhaps Kingston is right, that you’re better off just giving Condon one free base rather than allowing him to knock the ball out of the park, which he’s currently done in seven straight games. It looks like Kingston won’t allow him to go for eight straight.