Georgia wins 13-12 slugfest over Mississippi St. in NCAA baseball super regionals opener
Michael O'Shaughnessy hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift No. 3 Georgia to a 13-12 win over No. 14 Mississippi State in a bombastic super regionals opener on Saturday in Athens, Ga.
Mississippi State (43-18) originally surged to a 7-0 lead by the fourth inning, powered by home runs from Ryan Stallman and Kevin Milewski. However, Georgia (50-12) rallied to score nine unanswered runs during the fourth and fifth innings to go ahead.
In the top of the sixth, Milewski's second long ball of the game pulled MSU to within 9-8 before Gehrig Frei tied the score with a solo homer two batters later. Georgia regained the lead in the bottom of the inning with Rylan Lujo going deep.
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The score was tied once again at 10-10 in the seventh when Ryder Woodson hit a solo home run for the Starkville Bulldogs. Mississippi State then went on top 11-10 on an Ace Reese homer. The lead increased to 12-10 when Milewski was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, scoring Jacob Parker.
Mississippi State appeared to be in position to take Game 1 of their super regionals series on Georgia’s home field. But in the bottom of the eighth, the Bulldogs of Athens put their first two runners on with a Kenny Ishikawa walk and single from Daniel Jackson. MSU’s Ben Davis then struck out Lujo before leaving a pitch in the middle of the strike zone to O’Shaughnessy for his go-ahead home run, his second of the game.
Both teams combined for 31 hits and 11 home runs to open the Athens Super Regional with fireworks. O’Shaughnessy finished with two homers and five RBI, batting 2-for-5. Lujo also went deep twice on a 3-for-5 day. For Mississippi State, Milewski hit two homers, batting 3-for-4 with three RBI. Reese added a 3-for-6 performance.
The battle of the SEC’s Bulldogs continues with Game 2 of their super regionals series scheduled for Sunday at 12 p.m. ET.
