STARKVILLE, Miss. — Mississippi State posted a 6-1 win over 24th-ranked Georgia Friday in front of a crowd of 12,315 at Polk-Dement Stadium.
MSU (20-11, 5-5 SEC) went up 1-0 in the second on a sacrifice fly by senior Logan Kohler, scoring Connor Hujsak who reached on a leadoff walk and took third on a base hit by Bryce Chance. Senior second baseman Amani Larry led off the bottom of the third with his third home run of the year to make it 2-0. In the fourth, Georgia (23-7, 4-6 SEC) got a two-out double from freshman Tre Phelps and then Kolby Branch followed and drove one to the wall in centerfield that was caught to maintain a shutout. Georgia cut it to 2-1 in the fifth, plating a run on a bases-loaded passed ball following an intentional walk to Charlie Condon.
Georgia sophomore left-hander Jarvis Evans got the start in place of graduate Charlie Goldstein who was scratched due to shoulder fatigue. Evans provided 4.1 innings and allowed two runs on three hits with two walks and five strikeouts in his first career SEC road start but fell to 2-1. Graduate Josh Roberge tossed 2.2 scoreless innings of relief to keep it a 2-1 contest heading to the seventh. He retired all eight batters he faced and struck out four. MSU got 6.2 strong innings from Khal Stephens (4-2) who allowed just one unearned run on five hits with seven strikeouts for the win.
Wth two on and two outs in the frame, Condon came to the plate to face the junior sidearm throwing closer Cam Schuelke. He hit the first pitch right back to him to end the threat. Georgia’s pitching staff combined to retire 15 in a row until a two-out, bunt single by David Mershon in the eighth. Two batters later, Hujsak smashed a three-run home run off Zach Evans to cap a four-run outburst for the final. Schuelke picked up his second save of the year with 2.1 scoreless innings.
“We threw the ball okay tonight, but we got to score to win games,” said Georgia head baseball coach Wes Johnson. “In the past 16 SEC innings, we’ve scored only one run, and you’re not going to win many games doing that. Our offense will get back on track. We’ll get back out there. It’s just a little hiccup for the offense, and we’ll be fine.”
Johnson added he was pleased with how Evans and Roberge kept the Bulldogs in the game Friday.
“They really saved our bullpen tonight,” Johnson added. “Those two guys did a really good job. It’s Friday night in this league, and you know you’re going to be in a fight. The games are going to be tight whether you’re at home or on the road. We threw the ball really well for seven and two-third innings in a 2-1 game, and the wheels came off after that.”
The series continues Saturday with first pitch at 8:02 p.m.
