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ATHENS, Ga. –<\/b> No. 17 Mississippi State’s offense gave itself every chance Saturday morning at Foley Field.<\/p>\n
But a back-and-forth slugfest tilted the wrong way late.<\/p>\n
Mississippi State hit six home runs and piled up 15 hits, but No. 3 Georgia used a three-run homer from Mike O’Shaughnessy in the eighth inning to rally past MSU 13-12 in the opening game of the Athens Super Regional.<\/p>\n
State (43-18) will try to keep its season alive Sunday at 11 a.m. CT on ESPN. Sophomore right-hander Ryan McPherson<\/a><\/dfn> (4-1, 2.81 ERA) will start for Mississippi State, while UGA will counter with graduate righty Caden Aoki (9-1, 3.86 ERA).<\/p>\n The game featured 25 runs, 31 hits and 11 home runs. <\/p>\n Mississippi State built its early lead with a six-run second inning. Jacob Parker<\/a><\/dfn> drew a leadoff walk, Vytas Valincius<\/a><\/dfn> followed with a single and Reed Stallman<\/a><\/dfn> launched a three-run homer to right field. Kevin Milewski<\/a><\/dfn> and Bryce Chance<\/a><\/dfn> later singled before Ace Reese<\/a><\/dfn> reached on an error that scored two more runs. Parker capped the inning with an RBI single to center to make it 6-0.<\/p>\n Milewski, who went 3-for-4 with two home runs, three RBIs and three runs scored, pushed the lead to 7-0 with a solo shot in the fourth.<\/p>\n UGA (50-12) surged back in the bottom half. Daniel Jackson and Rylan Lujo opened the inning with back-to-back solo homers, Jack Arcamone added a sacrifice fly and Ryan Black delivered a two-run double to trim the lead to 7-5.<\/p>\n Georgia then grabbed its first lead in the fifth. O’Shaughnessy hit a two-run homer, and Kolby Branch followed later in the inning with a two-run double that put UGA ahead 9-7.<\/p>\n MSU did not go quietly.<\/p>\n Milewski and Gehrig Frei<\/a><\/dfn> hit solo homers early in the sixth to tie the game at 9. After Lujo’s second homer gave Georgia the lead again in the bottom of the inning, Ryder Woodson<\/a><\/dfn> answered with a solo shot in the seventh to pull State even at 10.<\/p>\n Reese, who finished 3-for-6, gave Mississippi State the lead again with a solo homer to center in the eighth. Parker walked, Vytas Valincius<\/a><\/dfn> singled and Milewski was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to stretch the advantage to 12-10.<\/p>\n But Georgia had one more swing left. After Kenny Ishikawa was hit by a pitch and Jackson singled in the eighth, O’Shaughnessy hit his second homer of the game, a three-run shot to right, to put UGA in front 13-12.<\/p>\n Justin Byrd worked around two base runners in the ninth to earn his eighth save. Grant Edwards picked up the win for Georgia, while Dane Burns<\/a><\/dfn> took the loss for MSU.<\/p>\n Reese, Milewski and Chance each had three hits for Mississippi State. Frei, Reese, Stallman, Woodson and Milewski accounted for State’s six home runs, with Milewski leaving the yard twice.<\/p>\n O’Shaughnessy drove in five runs for Georgia, while Lujo went 3-for-5 with two solo homers and three runs scored.<\/p>\n Visit\u00a0<\/i><\/b>www.HailState.com<\/i><\/b><\/a>\u00a0for the latest news and information on the baseball program. Fans can also follow the program on social media by searching ‘HailStateBB’ on\u00a0<\/i><\/b>X<\/i><\/b><\/a>,\u00a0<\/i><\/b>Facebook<\/i><\/b><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/i><\/b>Instagram<\/i><\/b><\/a>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n